Salutes various pioneers in the field of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education who have helped shape the field from its inception in this country. The group includes researchers, innovators, administrators, and teacher trainers who have worked in the field for 25 years or more. The article offers brief biographies and each person's advice…

Describes a small-scale study into learners' attributions for success and failure in learning French. The study investigated the way in which learners conceptualize the notion of doing well, together with perceived reasons for successes and failures. Interviews were conducted with students (10-15 years of age) who were learning French in the…

Investigates the effect of subtitled television programs on Dutch elementary school children's foreign-language acquisition. Findings indicate that of three experimental conditions--English television program with and without subtitles, and a Dutch television program (control)--vocabulary acquisition and English word recognition were highest in…

Investigated whether beginning adult learners, given auditory stimuli, were equally likely to represent French gender subclasses using phonological, morphosyntactic, and/or semantic representations. Data from adult English speakers learning patterned French and translation equivalent lists indicated that the construct of input for gender learning…

One university's business college implemented a program, in the context of a business-related curriculum, to help international graduate students acquire academic writing skills necessary to fulfill their writing requirements. They formed a partnership with the linguistics program and developed a course, professional writing for business…

Describes Total Physical Response, a teaching technique that teachers of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) use to instruct students who are in the process of learning a second language and modifications that can be made to the program to teach students with visual impairments. (CR)

Describes how learner diaries were used as a means for evaluating a teacher-training course. Records how data from the diaries was categorized and interpreted, and discusses some of the issues for this particular type of course that the evaluation has revealed. (Author/VWL)

A study examined levels of learning strategy use in 149 Hong Kong university students of English-as-a-Second-Language, and the relationship to language proficiency, using the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). The appropriateness of using SILL and proficiency measure in tandem to establish a clear relationship between strategy use…

Explores ring games--where participants form a circle, sing, dance, and take turns entering the circle--and how they can be used in the second-language classroom. The playful integration of vocalization and rhythmic body movement can have a powerful influence on speech fluency. (Author/VWL)

These tips from the classroom showcase a variety of oral communication and performance activities that invite both teachers and students to explore the power and pleasure of using creative, kinesthetic strategies. (Author/VWL)

Describes how Operation Provide Refuge welcomed many Albanian Kosovar refugees to the United States. Explains how English-as-a-Second-Language Teachers can fulfill an important role as both language teachers and cultural brokers. A list of recommended readings and World Wide Web sites is included. (Author/VWL)

Highlights methods of teaching grammar that have been adapted for computer-assisted language learning. (Author/VWL)

Suggests that because the new methodological emphasis in intermediate-level foreign-0language courses has shifted from translation-based learning, which utilized literary texts extensively, to communication-based learning, literature has been overlooked as a viable tool of instruction. Argues that this shift does not allow students to develop an…

Investigated the effects of language background on success in the learning of Chinese characters by first-year college students of Chinese. An instrument consisting of a character-recognition task and a production task was employed. Eighty-five bilingual speakers of English and Chinese and 60 nonheritage learners from seven institutions…

Investigates the effect teachers trained with American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages oral proficiency interview-type training has on student performance, instructional methods, and classroom materials in the secondary foreign-language classroom. Results of teacher interviews and questionnaires supported the hypothesis that trained…