In a comparison study, the receptive portion of the Screening Test of Spanish Grammar and the Spanish version of the Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language were administered to 20 Spanish-speaking Mexican American children (4 to 6-years-old). (Author/IM)

Describes a beginning foreign language class applying the principles of Stephen Krashen's "Natural Approach" and James Asher's "Total Physical Response" method. Initially students carry out the instructor's commands in the form of actions rather than being required to speak. In later stages role play and simple discussions are…

Summarizes current trends in second language acquisition research and suggests their implications for teaching. Five second language acquisition principles are presented, followed by a discussion of the relevant literature and a description of language teaching practices consistent with each principle. (SED)

Uses of slides in the French language classroom for vocabulary development, enhancement of listening comprehension, stimulation of speech, and grammar review are discussed. (MSE)

Comparison of normal-speaking (N=20) and misarticulating (N=20) four- to six-year-olds and adults (N=16) revealed that adults were significantly more accurate in detecting mispronunciations than either group of children, while performance between the two groups of children was similar. Words that children found most difficult were also those on…

Examines developmental changes in children's ability to comprehend visual and verbal narrative. Finds that understanding and integrating temporal aspects of a narrative is more difficult for young children when the story is presented visually than when presented verbally, whereas older children comprehend narratives in both formats equally well.…

One law school professor's experience with teaching a seminar on feminist legal theory suggests that one aspect of feminist methodology, listening to each other's personal stories, can provide a valuable student experience for law students. (MSE)

Presents the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language's language proficiency guidelines for Japanese, encompassing speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills for novice, intermediate, and advanced learners. (CB)

Recent research has shown that effective second-language reading involves an interaction of the reader with the text. This interactive view has relevance for other areas of second-language processing, including listening comprehension, writing, and English for special purposes. Future research is needed in metacognition, relationships among…

Argues that sufficient adaptivity in computer-assisted language learning materials for individual study can be achieved only if such programs are able to perform meaningful error analysis and fit the needs of individual learners. Other effective elements of the program include collecting information on learning and performance histories of…

Native speakers (N=10), comprehension class students (N=10), traditionally instructed students (N=10), and controls (N=10) were evaluated for quality of German accent. While native speakers most frequently received excellent ratings, students in the comprehension class (which featured immersion techniques) were rated higher than traditionally…

Suggests using the Hispanic literature of the American Southwest to teach Spanish in elementary school. Describes specific classroom practices using, as an example, a specific short story as well as games and activities that can be used in conjunction with the story. (SED)

Describes an experiment whose principal aim was to examine how a classroom silent period, devoted almost exclusively to aural comprehension, operates. In the case of the French adult learners of English involved in this study, 60 hours proved to be a satisfactory period. (SED)

Describes two experiments comparing how children evaluate three types of uninformative messages (ambiguous, incomplete, inconsistent) and whether and why the speaker's age affects the evaluation of each. (HOD)

Four contributors discuss methods of integrating speech communication instruction with English and writing instruction. (SRT)