Summarized are the proceedings of a 1984 public hearing held in France by the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe to discuss the need for a legal instrument guaranteeing the defense and promotion of the heritage of the regional and minority languages of Europe. (RM)

Recent attention to issues concerning the instruction and assessment of English language learner (ELL) students has placed them among the top national priorities in education. Policy has noticeably shifted from exclusion to inclusion of ELL students in the assessment and accountability system. However, recent research on and practice in the…

Nicenet, WebCT and Moodle were used to teach grammar to freshman students at the College of Languages and Translation, King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. The subjects were divided into three groups and were randomly assigned to the three online courses. The same questions, discussion threads, grammar websites, daily grammar lesson, exercises…

A federally funded research and development center focused solely on adult learning, the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) is a partnership of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, World Education, Rutgers University, Portland State University in Oregon, and the Center for Literacy Studies at the…

The research effort reported in this document addresses the important national need for determining the validity of large-scale content assessments in English with students who are in the process of acquiring English as a second language. Often these students have been excluded from such assessments, but there have been recent, growing efforts to…

First grade is a year of important new experiences for students and teachers alike. Some students will arrive knowing how to read, others will know a few letters of the alphabet, and most will be somewhere in between. Including dozens of reproducibles, this book guides first-grade teachers in the many decisions they face about how to orchestrate…

This book includes the following chapters: "Literacy and Advanced Foreign Language Learning: Rethinking he Curriculum" (Richard G. Kern); "A Template for Advanced Learner Tasks: Staging Genre Reading and Cultural Literacy Through the Precis" (Janet Swaffar); "Fostering Advanced L2 Literacy: A Genre-Based, Cognitive…

This edited volume explores the international role of written English in the academic context and clearly demonstrates how writing is integrated in all aspects of academic communication in English. The 12 programs described in this book differ in context but share basic assumptions about how best to teach second language (L2) writing. In addition…

The objective of this book is to teach English to Latino adults so that they may successfully adapt to and cope with their new lives and conditions in the United States. Using oft-expressed needs as a guideline for content development, the lesson plans are designed to include exercises, basic vocabulary, and grammar that help students function in…

This document is part lesson planner and idea resource and part annotated bibliography of electronic resources. The lesson planner is divided into four parts. Part one, "Tables to Go," contains different tables that can be used for a variety of exercises at all levels of the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom. Part two, "Exploring the…

The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act requires states to report learners' educational gains in terms of level descriptors defined by the National Reporting System (NRS). States may choose their assessment methods. Most use standardized testing. NRS level descriptors for English as a Second Language (ESL) define English language proficiency…

This volume focuses on the psycholinguistic aspects of language transfer when three languages are in contact, and provides an overview of the state of the art in cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition. This edited volume contains, in addition to an introduction, ten chapters. Chapter titles include the following: "The Effect of…

The development of communicative approaches and strategies in specialized discourse has led to revising notions of representative and significant language. Particularly in work with academic genres, in science and technology settings, the need for determining these factors is growing. The application of specific language corpora becomes…

This package of information from a teacher training workshop is designed to be used by English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers working with literacy students. Training objectives are for participants to identify the following: characteristics of adult ESL learners, the methods most effective in adult ESL literacy instruction, and strategies…

This lesson guide argues that the focus of the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom should include all of the following: learning English, acquiring workplace skills, and developing a cross-cultural awareness. The renewed emphasis on employment-related ESL has created a growing interest in the competencies of the SCANS (Secretary's…