The hypothesis that access to two languages in the preschool period might promote metalinguistic development was subjected to empirical verification. The method of parallel groups with paired equalization procedure was used to test the hypothesis. (25 references) (JL)

The use of different communication strategies (CSs) in interlanguage application was studied with 51 Persian first-year university learners of English. Emphasis is on determining which CSs are more favored under a given condition and on identifying a link between task type and the use of specific CSs. (23 references) (LB)

Describes the Australian Language Certificates project, an initiative which provides incentives to students studying second languages by offering external recognition of achievement and enhancing the status of secondary school language learning. It includes listening and reading assessment tasks in six languages. Students receive certificates…

The Slavonic languages are well represented among the community languages of Australia, though few maintain a place in the school curriculum, and only Russian is an independent discipline in Australian universities. The article discusses Slavonic languages and cultures and their presence in Australia. (SM)

Compared 719 first-, second-, third-grade students enrolled in partial-immersion (PI) programs in Japanese, Spanish, or French to 3 comparison groups. Outcome measures used were a mathematics test, Metropolitan Achievement Test in Reading, and Student Oral Proficiency Rating. PI students scored at least as well as, and to some extent better than,…

The possible relationship between a teacher's or individual's position on the Transmission-Interpretation dimension, locus of control, and culture was examined. A pilot study with Malaysian and United Kingdom undergraduates suggests that promoting particular methodologies may be inappropriate and ineffective. Sample questionnaire items are…

A study of adults learning French as a second language showed that enhancing the pedagogical environment through development of a French phonetic training program resulted in improved discrimination and production ability among the students. (39 references) (LB)

Discusses the reforms made in the fall of 1990 in the English department at the Ecole Hautes Etudes Commerciales (Paris, France), which were based on the basis of a combination of literature-culture and second- and foreign-language acquisition pedagogical biases. (four references) (VWL)

Summaries of six language-related research projects are presented from Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Topics include English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) textbook evaluation, translatability of Filipino texts, group discussions in Thai junior colleges, bilingual language, and children's reading development. (LB)

An ethnographic approach to the study of second-language lecture comprehension was used to study 30 first-year Hong Kong Chinese students in a Teaching-English-as-a-Second-Language course. Results indicate student attitudes, problems, and their approaches to overcoming the problems. (17 references) (Author/LB)

Brief reviews and descriptions cover USENET (for those interested in exploring language and culture on-line); expansion of MINITEL service through interconnection with services in Spain, England, Holland, Germany, and Italy; CTLINK, which allows access to many networks; and EUDORA, an Internet-compatible mail program for MacIntosh computers. (CNP)

A workshop for primary school teachers of English as a foreign language emphasized knowledge of language learning principles to equip teachers for the classroom. Description of the workshop touches on theory, methods, learner styles and expectations, and textbook selection. (eight references) (CNP)

ALICE, a multimedia framework for intelligent computer-assisted language instruction (ICALI) at Carnegie Mellon University (PA), consists of a set of tools for building a number of different types of ICALI programs in any language. Its Natural Language Processing tools for syntactic error detection, morphological analysis, and generation of…

The effects of a French tutorial with spoken feedback, written feedback, written/spoken feedback, and no feedback were examined with 56 undergraduates using a Macintosh computer. Results supported the hypothesis that students receiving written/spoken feedback perform better than those in the other three feedback categories. (eight references)…

Sixty Korean speakers of English who had lived in the United States were tested for their ability to judge the grammaticality of English sentences in 12 grammatical categories in a reaction-time task. Findings suggest that a sensitive period exists in second-language (L2) acquisition as evidenced by faster performance by early-learner L2 groups.…