Evaluation of mastery at the various stages of language acquisition is more appropriately carried out through the use of creative testing on hybrid achievement tests, which retain certain features of achievement tests and incorporate proficiency-based tasks that require authentic communicative language use. (Author/CB)

Discusses philosophical considerations that should be taken into account when developing materials to teach programing at elementary and secondary levels and outlines a learning environment based on these considerations. Philosophical considerations discussed relate to programing strategies, motivation, curriculum materials, continuity, visual and…

Discusses nine orthodoxies, including the idea that spelling, grammar, and punctuation are unimportant, that decrease teacher effectiveness. (DF)

A teaching technique used in a short course in reading scientific and technical Russian without previous Russian language experience is described. A special grammar-and-dictionary is used in a rule-governed manner to produce semi-automatically a sentence-for-sentence analysis of specialized texts. (MSE)

Background: Integrating reading in foreign language (FL) classes is sometimes a difficult task because of lack of appropriate methodology and poor textbook support. In addition, college students find many readings too difficult to understand or not interesting. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how a teacher-researcher…

This paper examines obstacles faced by Japanese students learning English, noting that many such students are highly competent in reading, writing, and listening, but not in speaking. It suggests that students are worried about making oral mistakes, which cannot be erased once uttered, and that oral activities completed in English class are often…

This book is based on a series of four lectures, presented at National Taipei University, Taiwan, which reviewed the fundamentals of second language acquisition theory, presented original research supporting the theory, offered counterarguments to criticisms, and explored new areas that appeared to have promise for progress in both theory and…

Part of a series, the purpose of this low-readability/high interest book is to provide instruction and practice in using higher order thinking to develop students' reading comprehension skills. The reading skills addressed in the book are based on state reading standards and assessment tests for grades seven and eight. The goal of this series of…

The four 1997 issues include these articles: "Introduction to Government and Binding Theory," parts 4-7 (Cheryl A. Black), which discuss constraints on movement, semantic roles and case theory, binding theory, and more recent additions to the theory; "A Scholar's Ethic" (William J. Samarin), concerning the behavior of scholars…

The purpose of this paper is to review new trends in teaching grammar at the secondary school level. With new developments in the fields of linguistics and psychology which resulted in the shift from structurally-dominated English-as-a-foreign-language methodology to a more communicatively-oriented one, new ideas have prevailed in language…

This document is a copy of a talk regularly given to new volunteers of English in Action, a community-based organization that provides conversation practice to non-native English speakers. The volunteer tutors typically have no formal English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) training. This packet is designed to help these volunteers be effective ESL…

Papers on language research in this volume include the following: Phonetique ou phonologie: le chva dans les emprunts anglais en portugais (Phonetics or Phonology: The Schwa in English Loan Words to Portuguese) (Pascale Belanger); NewsExpert: exemple de l'application de la linguistique informatique a Internet (NewsExpert: An Example of Its…

A checklist of criteria for determining a text's appropriateness is provided. Suggestions assume four needs: current methodology, guidance for nonnative teachers, students' special needs, and relevance to the sociocultural environment of instruction. Criteria cover general considerations, speech, grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, and…

Presents a method of evaluating writing that (1) reduces teachers' marking time; (2) facilitates rather than judges student writing; (3) emphasizes performance rather than finished product; (4) provides double feedback, before and after revision; (5) helps bridge successive drafts by requiring immediate revision; and (6) improves student writing.…

Reports on a study investigating the unlearning of null subjects and null objects by Chinese students (n=159) of English as a Second Language. Results show an asymmetry in Chinese learners' English, which is opposite to that found in native English. (70 references) (Author/CK)