It is argued that wheather the course of cognitive development is characterized by growth, stability, or decline is less a matter of the metamodel on which the theories and data are based. Such metamodels are representations of reality that are not empirically testable. (Author)

A study was designed to ascertain whether syntactic avoidance behavior could be demonstrated for two groups of ESL learners (native speakers of Arabic and of Spanish and Portuguese) in accordance with contrastive analysis difficulty predictions. An avoidance pattern was found in accordance with such predictions. (CHK)

Outlines the contents of a one-week course called "Survival Spanish," which was taught to retired persons in an Elderhostel program. Differences in learning strategies between and presentation of material to adults and children are discussed, with specific emphasis on the older learner. (SED)

Neurophysiological aspects of the development and use of accents in language are considered, including the function of age of the second language learner, left brain hemisphere, language tasks, and other neuroanatomical considerations. (CB)

Investigates the role of topic-comment structure and the frequency of topic-prominence in the oral interlanguage of Chinese- Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-, Farsi-, and Spanish-speaking adult students of English as a second language. Results indicate that second language learning is generally characterized by an early topic-comment stage, independent…

A study examined the effect of age of arrival, length of years in an English-speaking country, and linguistic context on the pronunciation of 29 adult learners of English as a second language. Unexpectedly, pronunciation ratings were nearly identical for both retelling a personal trauma and for reading aloud. (MSE)

States that the typical nursing student is older than before and that nursing education programs must develop educational alternatives that address student needs and learning styles. Discusses strategies used by some private providers of nursing education in dealing with adult students. Proposes the formation of a Center for Alternative Nursing…

Describes the "Competition Model" (Bates and MacWhinney, 1982) dealing with second-language sentence processing by bilinguals and research that has further developed theories dealing with the model. (CB)

This article provides a framework, or typology, from which to examine the range of educational options that is available to the older person and provides an analysis of the potential size of the older learner student market. It includes a discussion of a demonstration program that has been well received by the able older learner. (CT)

Describes a San Diego Community College course on teaching techniques for vocational instructors. The course features six teaching competencies: (1) organizing course content, (2) using various instructional delivery techniques, (3) understanding the adult learning process, (4) using instructional media, (5) giving effective tests, and (6)…

Reviews the theoretical foundations of current-second language acquisition models. Draws upon this research as well as upon various studies of memory and verbal-input processing to present a theoretical model of adult second language comprehension. Discusses the implications of comprehension theory for second-language teaching. (Author/SED)

The results of a survey concerning the learning experiences of 740 university and community college adult students in western Manitoba are analyzed in terms of adult learning theory, and the importance of intellectual maturity as a guiding principle in organizing learning experiences is examined. (MSE)

Examines three particular areas of nonverbal communication important to adult educators: proxemics (interrelated observations and theories of people's use of space as a specialized elaboration of culture), eye contact, and touch. The implications of nonverbal communication for teaching adults are surveyed. (CT)

A suggested list of categories is presented to be used in the evaluation of adult-oriented computer software. These categories include instructional range of the program, program execution time, whether or not ancillary materials are available for the software, identifying software use, self-pacing programs, performance-oriented programs, and…

This article presents exploratory research on the profile characteristics of a selected sample of Texas adult basic education instructors who worked with older learners of age 45 and above and of their perceptions of preference, capabilities, and instructional concerns in serving this older adult population. (Author/CT)