Over the past several years, teachers at the West Virginia University Child Development Laboratory have used the language experience approach to develop the literacy skills of young children. To increase child involvement, a scrapbook project for 4-year-olds was conducted each Wednesday for 1 academic year. Each child received a scrapbook and…

When faced with having to assign a grade to a student's oral proficiency in a small group discussion, how can teachers consistently evaluate each student? Because a student's adeptness at a foreign language can vary from one ability to another, it is unfair to evaluate his or her performance solely by grammatical and lexical accuracy or by any…

Beginning Pashto is part of a set of materials for teaching oral and written Afghan Pashto. The Pashto writing system is taught in the first unit of the book and is used in the presentation of the material from then on. In the first three units, material is provided also in a romanized transcription. After that, the transcription of a word or…

This introduction to second language learning is intended to provide language teachers with basic information on relevant principles and processes. After an introductory chapter, the second chapter looks at traditional beliefs about language learning, including those concerning transfer of first-language knowledge to the second language, the role…

This document consists of the two issues published during 1998 of the newsletter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) national special interest group (N-SIG) on foreign language literacy. Major articles in these issues are: "Academic Protocol and Targeted Rhetoric" (Denise D. Brown); "Key Concepts in FL Literacy:…

Pupils need to study grammar that is useful and functional. How much stress should the language arts place upon pupils understanding the eight parts of speech in traditional grammar? Good teaching emphasizes proceeding from the concrete to the semi-concrete in teaching-learning situations, then the abstract phase of learning needs to be…

This manual is designed for improving understanding of colloquial Romanian in continued language learning beyond the beginning level. The first part of the manual includes four popular Moldovan fairy-tales with illustrations to help understand what is implied in the text. The second section includes local expressions, some of them with…

Designed for continued language learning beyond the intermediate level, this workbook provides practice and sets of exercises for improving speaking and listening skills in Bulgarian through class participation and discussion, and reading and writing. The book includes grammar explanations, news reports, brief biographies of prominent Bulgarians,…

While native and non-native English-speakers may approach scientific English differently, the same features cause difficulty for both groups. The difficulties generally occur more with grammar and the complex relationships between terms than with vocabularly, and may be classified in seven categories: interlocking definitions, technical…

Four classroom activities for second language learning are described. They include games and other exercises designed to enhance vocabulary development, review grammatical structures, encourage conversation on a variety of topics, and introduce cultural elements into instruction. All use materials that are readily available, and all are intended…

The guide offers practical information on various aspects of daily living in France, including: money; food; restaurants; hotels; postal and telecommunications services; transportation; shopping; health and medical care; safety and security; tipping; electricity; measurement and clothing size conversions; greetings and leave-takings; names,…

Analysis of beginning second language textbooks for German, Swedish, English, and Finnish looked at the readability of the contents. Finnish and English texts are examined more closely here as illustrations of the problems found in all four languages. Specific passages are cited and discussed; two are appended. A general framework of text…

The working papers by students and professors of linguistics on research in progress include the following: "Are Cariban Languages Moving Away From or Towards Ergative Systems?" (Desmond D. Derbyshire); "A Double-Verb Construction in Mbya Guarani" (Robert A. Dooley); "Semantically Ergative Languages in Typological…

The teachers' guide to the "Intermediate Pashto" textbook (FL 019 797) contains notes for the teacher on each of the fourteen units and sub-sections of the textbook. Unit and section headings are in English and Pashto; virtually all text is in Pashto. (MSE)

Delaware's state standards for modern foreign language curricula are designed to assist school districts in designing curricula in all languages. Introductory sections describe the evolution of the standards and the philosophy underlying foreign language instruction in the state, and offer general suggestions to the teacher for using the standards…