To improve the listening abilities of non-native English speakers at Pan American University, discourse-level listening curriculum guidelines were developed, based on research about listening skills. The approach separates the steps of listening into preparation, memory practice, cues, organizational patterns, and review. Sample guides and…

Describes a lexical training program developed to teach object, visible movement, and invisible movement words to children at stage 5 (N=7) and stage 6 (N=16) object permanence development. Stage 6 children learned all three types of words equally well, while stage 5 children learned object and visible movement but not invisible movement words.…

Presents an application of the theory of comprehension-based teaching to materials development in the English for special purposes context. Elements of the program included utilizing materials derived from research projects in which the students were engaged and a lesson format which focused on development of the receptive skills. (Author/SED)

Discusses the design of a course in Mandarin Chinese developed by the US government's Interagency Language Roundtable after President Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China and its implications for vocabulary choice, the teaching of grammar, the use of dialogues, achievement tests, listening comprehension, and classroom activities.…

During academic year 2001-02, approximately 165 students in eight sections of Introductory Spanish and French completed weekly online quizzes as part of their final grades. While most of them completed traditional quizzes, two third-semester Spanish classes completed multimedia listening comprehension quizzes based on audio and video from the Web.…

The report details development and validation of a test designed to assess the ability to comprehend and summarize, in English, recorded conversations spoken in Taiwanese. The language and topics of the exam are representative of conversations that federal law enforcement or intelligence agencies may need to monitor in this language. The report is…

Based on the 1998 Arkansas English Language Arts Frameworks, this framework lists benchmarks for grades five through eight in writing; reading; and listening, speaking, and viewing. The writing section's stated standards are to help students employ a wide range of strategies as they write; use different writing process elements appropriately to…

This report describes a program for teaching students to use specific strategies to construct meaning from text. The targeted population consisted of elementary and middle school students in a growing urban community in northern Illinois. The lack of reading strategies was documented by data describing the reading behaviors and achievement of the…

Examines how speakers and listeners make judgments on the relationship and truth of propositions connected by subordinating conjunctions. (EKN)

Two groups of undergraduates differing in reading ability were tested on a number of reaction-time tasks designed to determine the speed of encoding visual information at several different levels, tests of sensory functions, verbal and quantitative reasoning ability, short-term auditory memory span, and ability to comprehend spoken text.…

Discusses why and how language laboratories are used in Japan to develop aural perception and comprehension and oral production in English. Presents some practical suggestions for the preparation of relevant teaching materials. (PMJ)

Discusses the "less-able" student via a description of the strategies used by the good language learner. Such strategies include a positive, active, and tolerant approach to learning the language, with a willingness to practice the language. The less-able needs a constant sense of achievement to continue. (PJM)

This study provides validity information for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) by examining some of its inter- and intra-test correlates. (CFM)

Analyzed the diaries of Chinese students of English as a Second Language to ascertain their beliefs and knowledge about their listening to English. Findings indicate that many retained clear ideas about their own role and performance as second-language listeners, the demands and procedures of this listening, as well as listening strategies. (13…

Describes a study of the listening comprehension of first-year, nonnative English speakers in a large North American university that sought to find out how students--all economics majors--were coping with listening to economics lectures and to try an experiment in mentoring by linking them with a lecture buddy. The mentoring project was found to…