Discusses the importance of all forms of nonverbal communication in the teaching of foreign languages, including body language, paralinguistics, cross cultural understanding, and visual aids in teaching. (AM)

Discusses the types of materials that should be used in the foreign language classroom to teach students how to communicate in real-life situations. These materials are called "communication tasks." (CFM)

Experiential learning and experiential education are defined and compared to classroom-based learning. Scandinavian Seminar, an American-Scandinavian organization with a one-year independent living and learning program, is described. The process of second-language learning, cultural immersion, and attitudes in language learning are discussed. (MLW)

After finding that the English Pronunciation course required at Regensburg University reduced errors by only 14 percent, a course was developed in recognizing errors (one's own and others'), with emphasis on vowel reduction, speech rhythm, elementary intonation and liaison. As a result, errors were reduced by 67 percent. (IFS/WGA)

Twenty-two Cantonese-speaking Chinese students and 16 Spanish-speaking students were tested for short-term memory encoding strategies on word-recognition tests. Chinese speakers were found to encode Chinese ideographs phonologically, but both Chinese and Spanish learners of English were found to encode English words visually. (Author/CFM)

The theoretical linguistic distinction between assertion and presupposition was empirically tested with two groups of subjects, young children acquiring English as their first language and adults acquiring English as a second language. (Author)

Presents evidence of a study of speakers of English as a Second Language that cross-language transfer effects interact with developmental effects in the construction of second language (L2) syllable structures. Argues that the optimality theory provides a more explicit account than the minimal sonority distance parameter setting model regarding…

Investigated pragmatic transfer in American learners of Japanese responding to compliments. The study used a closed role play to collect interlanguage data from the learners and normative data from Japanese and American native speakers. Findings substantiate a utility of pragmatic transfer research for improving instructional approach and course…

Examined the efficacy of the keyword method versus rote rehearsal in learning foreign language vocabulary. Findings revealed that in experienced foreign language learners, rote learners' performance excelled that of keyword learners, whereas in experienced learners, rote and keyword learners recalled the same proportion of words, although the…

Reviews current research on language and gender and discusses the implications of such work for gender-based research in second-language acquisition. The article notes that recent work in sociolinguistics, generally, and language and gender research, more specifically, has rejected categorical ideas of social identities in favor of more dynamic…

Reports on two studies addressing the issue of ultimate attainment of pronunciation by late second-language learners. Findings indicate that it is not impossible to achieve an authentic, nativelike pronunciation of a second language after a specified biological time. The article argues that certain learner characteristics and learning contexts may…

Presents some policy issues regarding Chinese language courses for students whose mother tongue is Chinese or a dialect of Chinese. (five references) (Author/CK)

Study investigated whether/how teachers of a team-taught college introductory course in Portuguese met National Standards on teaching of culture. Teachers met many of the standards, but students had few opportunities to develop perspectives on cultural patterns and products. Use of the term "native culture" and the complexity of cultural education…

Examines the hypothesis that learners focus their attention on lexical instead of grammatical items when processing input for semantic information. The study measured language processing via reconstruction of propositional content and recognition of verb tense within a passage. Results indicate that lexical cues improved reconstruction of a…

Reports a study of the production of Thai vowels, consonants, and tones by native English speakers using two forms of evaluation: acoustic measurements and auditory evaluation by native Thai-speaking listeners. The study focused on the differences in acoustic parameters between the two groups and the acoustic parameter influencing native…