This collection of suggestions for encouraging talking and writing in second-language classes include arranging face-to-face conversations between students and native speakers; letter writing among students; covering classroom tables with white butcher paper for students to write on; using a book bag project to enable parents and children to work…

Examines the CDI-WORDS Short Form vocabulary checklist as an index of language production. The study focuses on the associations between this short form and directly observed measures of lexical production; the associations between short-form checklists administered at different ages; the predictive associations between short form scores and…

Tests Pine & Lieven's (1993) suggestion that a lexically-based positional analysis can account for the structure of a considerable proportion of children's early multiword corpora. Results reveal that the positional analysis accounts for 60% of the children's multiword utterances and that most other utterances are defined as frozen. (33…

Investigated whether the pseudoword repetition difference between poor and normal readers in the Netherlands could be explained by differences in memory for verbal materials or in familiarity with the composition of verbal materials. Concludes that the pseudoword repetition of poor readers is already operative in early, perceptual states of…

Interviews with native French-speaking students, undertaken during a project encompassing the teaching of cultural awareness at the upper secondary level in Britain, were analyzed to assess the students' cultural competence. Three different levels of competence were identified: "limited,""adequate," and "high,"…

Presents useful tips for improving classroom learning. These include inviting native- and nonnative-English-speaking students to engage in world building while improving their language and cultural knowledge; highly motivated conversational activities; students' revision of their oral presentations; having students record classroom activities; and…

Presents a critical review of current empirical second-language (L2) studies addressing the effects of simplification on L2 learners' comprehension and intake in the written and aural modes. Argues that the issue of the role and effects of simplification on learners' comprehension and intake remains contentious. (35 references) (Author/CK)

Studied differences in language gain in French among two groups of students, those who studied abroad and those who remained at home to study in the college classroom. Six nonteacher native speakers compared the oral and written fluency of both groups of students. Results show the context of language learning is a factor in what oral and written…

Describes the development of an online course that aims to help tertiary students improve their English oral presentation skills. The course aims to allow learners to prepare their presentations out of class and then practice these skills in class with peer and teacher feedback. (Author/VWL)

Assesses the changes in the use of language learning strategies by 18 Irish students of German over the course of their 4-year undergraduate degree. The Strategy Inventory for Language Leaning was used to assess the use of language learning strategies by these students in year 2 and again in year 4. (VWL)

Eighty-five high school students of French were tested orally by an outside evaluator over a 2-month period. Includes several sample tests in a variety of formats as well as the questionnaire administered to students before and after the treatment to measure their attitudes toward French and oral evaluation. (Author/VWL)

Examines peer collaboration in a group of Japanese undergraduate students who were engaged in an academic presentation task during their yearlong studies in a content-based English-as-a-Second-Language program in a Canadian university. Students' preparatory activities outside of the classroom included negotiating task definition and teacher…

Investigated whether physical education (PE) classes could contribute to verbal skill development among limited English speaking Asian students. Surveys and interviews conducted at inner city English schools indicated that many PE teachers already planned lessons with such learning in mind, and relevant policies were well-developed. Some teachers…

To identify factors that contribute to development of phonological awareness, investigated longitudinal relationships among child background factors, structural oral language, and phonological awareness in children in kindergarten through Grade 2, and a subsample who were nonreaders in kindergarten. Suggests general oral language may contribute to…

Naturalistic mother-child speech between autistic, Down's syndrome, or normal children and their mothers was studied to determine whether imitation facilitates grammar acquisition. Spontaneous utterances were longer and contained more advanced grammar than imitation utterances, indicating that imitation does not play a significant role in grammar…