Discusses reasons for behavior of East Asian college students in their approach to reading, including their respect for the teacher as a spiritual guide, belief that asking a question is a sign of slow learning, and conviction that the goal of reading is to decode words and recite whole text fluently rather than to analyze a reading passage. (14…

Focuses on the use of taboo language as beneficial for second-language learners. The article suggests that learners need to understand what constitutes "obscene" language in North American contexts, why native speakers choose to use it, and what it signifies sociolinguistically. Some nonlinguistic variables relevant to cursing are discussed. (15…

Examines how application of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and information technology can be used to overcome "grammar deficit" seen in many British undergraduate German students. A combination of explicit, implicit, and exploratory grammar teaching approaches uses diverse resources, including word processing packages,…

Describes development and evaluation of an error analysis procedure for a computer-assisted language learning program using natural language processing techniques. The program can be used for learning passive voice in Japanese on any World Wide Web browser. The program enables learners to type sentences freely, detects errors, and displays…

Gives a summary of the theoretical approaches to the role of phonetics and phonology in language learning and teaching as developed by the Finnish-English cross-language project at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Analysis was extended over the chains of connected speech to deal with all the phenomena that give rhythm in speech. (Author/VWL)

Offering boys greater choice over what they learn may help address their underachievement in modern languages. However, they may not profit from this unless they are given explicit guidelines regarding how to go about their learning. The article discusses the effects of social and educational contexts, student motivation, learning strategies,…

Examined the foreign-language-learning abilities of 14- to 15-year olds in Britain, Germany, and Greece. Comparison of results from tests of students' foreign vocabulary knowledge indicated that British students had only one-third to one-half of the foreign language vocabulary knowledge of Greek and German students. They also spent less time…

Reports on a small-scale ethnographic study carried out with lower secondary students of Urdu and Bengali at a mainstream school in East London. Focused on the use of the Internet and multi-lingual word processing within a Web publishing project and examined the role played by information and communications technologies at different stages.…

This questionnaire study examined the beliefs of undergraduate and graduate preservice teachers of English as a Second Language about language learning. Although students tended to denigrate the value of theory in their preparation program, many of their expressed beliefs changed significantly during their theoretical courses on second language…

Students with English as a Second Language (ESL) face two critical challenges: they need to develop English literacy while, at the same time, acquire content knowledge across subject areas. These students need a targeted ESL curriculum from elementary to high school that will allow an extended learning time and opportunities to practice as they…

International students and the faculty and administrators charged with their oversight were surveyed at two religiously affiliated, private universities to determine the extent of their adjustment problems in the United States. Although the international students were found to have only minor adjustment problems in the twelve areas covered by the…

In the fall of 1996, the Arkansas Archeological Survey and the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville received a $180,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Teaching With Technology program. The goal of this grant initiative was to encourage creation of content-rich, computer-based materials…

This study is concerned with interactional involvement and identity construction in a university seminar comprised of native and non-native English speaking students. Findings reveal that in their classroom interactions, these two groups of students take on and perceive others to take on identities that have little to do with their language status…

In order to give language learners a fighting chance outside the classroom, teachers must provide them with consciousness-raising opportunities for developing pragmatic awareness. By attending to pragmatic factors in second-language (L2) situations, student will be better able to make informed choices in negotiating effective communication. This…

The English article system presents many problems for non-native speakers of English, particularly when they do not have an equivalent structure in their first language. Different approaches to the teaching of articles have attempted to overcome this problem. By encouraging students to address the notion of countability and to identify specific…