Comparison of Vietnamese-Australians' perception and production of the English compound-phrasal contrast with that of native English-speaking Australians indicated that the number of syllables and consonant clusters alien to Vietnamese phonology and length of residence in Australia were major factors affecting the Vietnamese-Australians'…

"Dialogic Reading" is an interactive shared picture book reading practice designed to enhance young children's language and literacy skills. During the shared reading practice, the adult and the child switch roles so that the child learns to become the storyteller with the assistance of the adult, who functions as an active listener and…

This article describes a classroom project using one-to-one desktop videoconferencing to enhance the development of second language (1.2) oral skills. Eighteen university students worked collaboratively with expert speakers to complete task-based activities. The author gathered data from video-recording samples, reflections, and oral interviews to…

Although second language (L2) research has explored connections between sociopsychological variables and L2 socialization processes, relatively few investigations have compared heritage language (HL) learners to traditional foreign language (FL) learners in the North American context. This descriptive study compares the learning and acculturation…

The ultimate goal of reading is to construct text meaning based on visually encoded information. Essentially, it entails converting print into language and then to the message intended by the author. It is hardly accidental, therefore, that, in all languages, reading builds on oral language competence and that learning to read uniformly requires…

In examining reading comprehension in a second language (L2), I have demonstrated that the prevailing metaphor of transfer of skills is misleading, and that what happens is access to an already existing general cognitive skill. There is evidence in first language (L1) and in L2 that accessing this skill when reading in an alphabetic language…

Edited by three authorities in the field, this "Handbook" presents contributions from experts across the world who report the cutting-edge of international research. It is ground-breaking in its holistic, evidence-informed account that aims to synthesize key messages for policy and practice in English, language and literacy teaching. A…

The 7-lesson curriculum was originally developed in 1980 and revised in 1988. This second revision includes the creation of a new lesson, lesson four, that deals with creating Chinese characters and stresses that the phonetic element so important in Chinese can also be found in other languages; thus illustrating that Chinese is really not that…

This report describes one segment of the Federal Language Testing Board's Unified Language Testing Plan (ULTP), the validation of speaking proficiency tests in Spanish and English. The ULTP is a project to increase standardization of foreign language proficiency measurement and promote sharing of resources among testing programs in the federal…

This story, intended for classroom presentation, comes with suggested activities (with illustrations) for students to undertake. The story is designed to be initially presented by one storyteller/teacher (with different voices) or by 5-8 students in group tandem style. The story and the activities allow students to develop various oral language…

This handbook serves as a guide to "Talk Time," a technique for volunteer facilitators to use to help newcomers to the United States practice English in a comfortable, non-threatening setting. Talk Time provides language practice activity often not found in traditional English-as-a-Second-Language classroom settings. In Talk Time, no one…

Attitudes toward usage, accent, and dialect in spoken English are examined, drawing on literature in the field and data from a British study of year 9 students' (pupils aged 13-14) language awareness. The dilemma inherent in teaching standard spoken usage while encouraging maintenance of ethnic and regional identity is examined, with attention…

Social meaning includes evaluation of languages themselves. Linguists often say all languages are equal. This is true in regard to potential, not true of actual state. All varieties of language share with pidgins and creoles the condition of being the result of a particular history of use, specialization, elaboration, and loss. A conversational…

The relationship between oral language and academic success as a rationale for the study of narrative structures is discussed in order to determine Northern Ute children's acquisition of "school language" structures. In addition, this paper compares hypotheses concerning the expected linguistic behavior of Northern Ute children in…

Because interest in oral proficiency on the part of foreign language educators has persisted on several fronts, the common problems that teachers face in implementing oral testing are discussed, and possible solutions are offered. The problems discussed include the following: (1) how to find the time; (2) how to develop tests; and (3) how to…