Examines the importance in the instructed-learning setting of the second-language teacher's "knowledge about language" or metalinguistic awareness. Discusses three questions: (1) Do teachers need to know about language?; (2) if so, why and in what ways; and (3) what impact does the level of a teacher's metalinguistic awareness have on the input…

Highlights how fables can be used in English-as-a-Foreign-Language classes. Fables offer the opportunity for learners to speak and teachers to reinforce the simple past versus the past continuous or the simple present versus the present continuous. Fables are also useful for teaching writing.(Author/VWL)

A study involving 106 elementary and secondary students with learning disabilities and 97 typical peers found that students who used spelling and grammar checkers were more successful than transition group students in reducing mechanical errors, particularly non-real-word spelling errors, and in making positive changes from first to final drafts.…

Reports the results of research attempting to document the role of learners' linguistic output in drawing their attention to linguistic form and in acquiring the form. Compares experimental and comparison groups that participated in a pretest, two post-tests, and four learning tasks. (Author/VWL)

Addresses some problematic aspects posed by the design and implementation of a Web site aimed at providing some extracurricular online EFL (English as a foreign language) resources to science students at the University of Sassari (Italy). Discusses teacher training, needs analysis, content organization, teaching of grammar, and evaluation and…

Describes how the author developed an approach to teaching writing and to grading student writing that gets students themselves to understand their technical mistakes in using language, but also lets them know the strengths in their writing upon which they can build. Notes that this approach unexpectedly cut down on the time she spent reading and…

Analysis of the first 4 months of word combinations recorded for an Estonian-English learning child suggests that meaning-based generativity may play a role in this important transition in that mixed language utterances, sequence reversals, and errors revealing early attempts at analysis provide clear evidence that distributional learning alone…

An issue currently being debated in second-language acquisition research is whether negative evidence (i.e., information to the learner that his or her utterance is ungrammatical) plays a positive role in the acquisition of the second language. Article reports the results of a small scale study that investigated the effects of formal instruction…

Criticisms of the whole-language approach (WL) to English-as-a-Second-language teaching are addressed, focusing on concerns about reading and grammar instruction. Criticism of grammar instruction is refuted, arguing that WL does not view grammatical knowledge as prerequisite to language use. A modification of the WL approach to reading instruction…

A study analyzed development of French aspectual markers in 39 college students of French as a second language and 30 native French-speaking students. Results indicate classroom instruction may increase the rate at which learners develop this knowledge, and that lack of access to second-language discursive-pragmatic conditions may prevent learning…

This study investigated the attitudes of 11 advanced English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) university students to an innovative course on grammar based on theories of consciousness-raising and a comprehension approach to grammar teaching. Results indicate students are willing to accept innovations if they perceive the changes as valuable and…

A discussion of the term "grammar" in the context of second-language teaching and learning looks at various approaches to/definitions of grammar, including linguistic, psychological, sociological, and pedagogical grammars. Pedagogical grammars are viewed as learning tools for the second-language classroom, and their properties and components are…

Argues that, taught in the context of writing, grammar can enhance and improve students' writing. Offers classroom examples showing how: good preparation for writing fosters good grammar and detail; students can use grammatical and syntactic constructions used by professional authors as models for their own writing; and how to help students learn…

Provides an historical sketch of form-focused instruction research, defines what is meant by form-focused instruction, and discusses the main research methods that have been used to investigate form-focused instruction in terms of a broad distinction between confirmatory and interpretive research. (Author/VWL)

Investigates English-as-a-foreign-language learner use of high frequency verbs and particular use of the verb, "make." Examines whether learners tend to overuse or underuse these verbs, whether high-frequency verbs are error-prone or safe, and what part transfer plays in misuse of these verbs. Authentic speaker data is compared with native speaker…