The dialogue journal procedure, which involves written turn-taking between a teacher and a student, is examined in terms of how the journal process can prepare students for later oral communication. The use of the dialogue journal with four distinct student populations (hearing impaired or deaf, learning disabled, bilingual, and…

Issues in testing proficiency in languages for special purposes (LSP) are examined in the context of the development of an advanced oral test in Japanese for tour guides. The test, designed at an Australian university for use in the Australian tourism industry, was to be designed to evaluate both language proficiency and skills in appropriate…

The restructuring of the Romance language program at Howard University to improve oral proficiency involved modification of goals, syllabi, classroom activities, and testing. Goals were adapted to American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)/Educational Testing Service (ETS) guidelines for oral proficiency. Assessment of French…

A study analyzed some of the characteristics of junior high students' oral communication behavior that accompanied the assignment, production, and evaluation of a writing task. It involved fieldwork in three junior high school English classes--first in a six-month pilot study and then in a year-long period of observation. Through direct…

The current situation of foreign language education at all educational levels in the United States, is examined with emphasis on new developments in instruction, testing, and program design. In a section titled "The Foreign Language Crisis," the combination of declining foreign language enrollment and increasing need for language skills…

Through a wide variety of activities, this manual integrates the teaching of English as a second language with the beginning students' experiences and the development of their linguistic, cognitive and conceptual skills. Emphasis is on individual skills and listening and speaking activities. Activities and materials move from simple to complex…

A study examined the impact of oral language competence on the writing behavior of secondary students of English as a second language (ESL). Samples of student writing in both the native Spanish and English were analyzed along five dimensions (topic of the composition, internal organization of thoughts, conveying meaning, sentence construction,…

A discussion of teaching and testing oral skills in a second language looks at issues in the testing of speaking ability in general, the effect that testing can have on teaching, and the kinds of communicative activities that can be built into a foreign language program with oral proficiency as a goal. The issues addressed include the differential…

Research on second language learning suggests that age or age-related factors are a major variable in the acquisition of a second language for school. In the early stages of acquisition, older students are faster and more efficient learners, with the advantage of more advanced cognitive development in the first language. This early advantage…

An ongoing research project into the dissolution or attrition of native language structure under the influence of bilingualism analyzed certain paradigmatic changes in the first language of a Hungarian-Hebrew bilingual speaker. Data were collected over a 2-year period from an Israeli woman who was born in Hungary and immigrated to Israel at 6…

The teacher's manual for Peace Corps volunteer language training in Lingala is designed for introductory oral language instruction. It is intended to assist trainees in functioning in the language within at least 6 weeks, and to transmit cultural information about the host country through linguistic structures, texts, and discussion topics. It…

The teacher's manual for Peace Corps volunteer language training in Kikongo is designed for introductory oral language instruction. It is intended to assist trainees in functioning in the language within at least 6 weeks, and to transmit cultural information about the host country through linguistic structures, texts, and discussion topics. It…

Student papers presented at a sociolinguistics conference include: "La variation phonologique [d'une voyelle] a Hull"; "La force illocutoire des pronoms personnels 'je' et 'tu' en tant qu'insignes des places d'ou parlent les femmes et les hommes"; "L'emploi des modes indicatif et subjonctif dans le francais parle de la…

It was found that the seemingly greatly increased oral fluency of Middlebury College seniors who had studied in college-sponsored junior year abroad programs did not carry over to written skills or to comprehensive grammatical knowledge. In the oral proficiency interview for Spanish, many returning students had no control of the subjunctive, a key…

Language is a complex social event. The rules determining its use vary with (1) the language field--the subject, text, and purpose; (2) the tenor of the social interaction; and (3) the mode or type of communication being used. The impact of the field, tenor, and mode on language use is reflected in a college student's retelling of a story to a…