Discusses the notion of personal response, which is a method in English-language teaching that aims to elicit learner production of discourse in the target language. The article distinguishes between reader-response and personal response approaches and demonstrates how the inclusion of reader response in literature-based communicative language…

Studies involving teachers of both Spanish and English as a foreign language reveal that metaphors provide teachers with a useful image to represent their views and the elusiveness of cultural concepts. It is suggested that teachers become ethnographers investigating their own beliefs as well as those of others while developing sociolinguistic…

Examines the conflict between students' focus on learning the grammar and vocabulary of a foreign language instead of considering the culture that lies beneath the target language, in this case, Italian. Suggestions are made for overcoming the practical difficulty of imposing a language as a cultural entity upon the students. (25 references) (CK)

Reviews current approaches to second-language syllabus design in the United Kingdom and proposes a model for planning a five-year course of study within the national curriculum framework that will take account of both the meanings a learner may wish to express and the grammatical knowledge needed, i.e., a model reconciling the semantic and…

The "Outsider's Gaze" is a set of three DVDs (Digital Video Discs) for Asian students of Spanish, French, and German. The project employs constructivist principles in the development of language learning materials. This paper discusses insiders (native speakers) and outsiders (language learners), language teaching, theories of learning,…

Provides a summary of a discussion of the implications of these perspectives for the theory and practice of teaching English for academic purposes at the university level. Presents an example of a critical thinking discussion activity. (Author/VWL)

Investigated the learning experiences of 23 Japanese students in a one-year academic exchange program in a Canadian university. Participants either wrote an opinion task or a summary task at the beginning of the program using preselected source texts. Analyses of interview data and comparisons of the original and revised texts indicate that…

Using a cooperative and situated learning approach, two vocational English-as-a-Second-Language instructors created a linguistic community of practice among nonnative speaking immigrant restaurant employees and their native speaking coworkers. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the role of foreign languages in the universities of Europe. The article advances the idea of establishing the use of foreign languages in practical settings in every academic discipline discusses a seminar centered on the theme of teaching languages to nonlinguists and on assessing the ability of the European universities to deal with…

In this article, autonomous learning in foreign languages is defined and the steps for introducing it to Year 9 low-ability students and Year 10 high-ability students are described. (six references) (CK)

Presents data on the comparative efficacy of tonal spelling and diacritics in the teaching of Mandarin Chinese pronunciation. Results indicate that the tonal spelling system did not lead to significantly greater accuracy in tonal production but reflected slightly lower rates of tonal production accuracy for native speakers of both American English…

Compares English acquisition of German students in English immersion (IM), non-immersion, and non-IM groups from the same school as the IM groups. Examines whether English vocabulary learning occurs incidentally while students are learning history or geography taught in English and whether learning abilities activated in the IM classroom are the…

Illustrates how Exploratory Practice (EP), a form of practitioner research, offers a successful and coherent approach to doctoral research and how learner and teacher/researcher understanding can be developed together. EP principles were used to integrate teaching practices and research in an applied setting to aid both the students and the…

Provides a survey of computer assisted instruction as applied to the Old English language from the work of the late 1980's pioneers to December 2001. Each instructional item--whether a website, java exercise, or an online course--is reviewed and URLs are provided in footnotes. Reviews are accompanied by pertinent background and practical advice.…

Discusses cultural studies as particularly appropriate for the study of Latin American peoples, because it encourages insights from social sciences, critiques the notion of canonical authority, and privileges the study of popular culture. Advocates attention be paid to the kind of pedagogy that will direct students to engage critically with the…