The common links in language learning theory relating to school content areas are the notion of input comprehensible to the learner, the distinction between language usage and use, and the concept of cognitive/academic language proficiency in contrast with basic interpersonal communication skills. This suggests that a laboratory-based science…

Three program types for foreign student second language instruction in Canada involve sheltered subject-matter instruction at (1) a university, (2) a university adjunct or support program, and (3) a private "visa school" established solely to prepare foreign students for university or college entrance in Canada or the United States. The…

Teaching Spanish while either restricting classroom use of the textbook or ignoring application of the computer is a losing proposition. Withdrawn from the typographic-video world that engages them daily, students are deprived of their most comfortable means of knowledge acquisition. Typography and visual images can be an immeasurable aid in…

A socio-educational model of second language learning suggests that the learning of a second language involves both an ability and a motivational component and that the major basis of this motivation is best viewed from a social psychological perspective. The motivational component is influenced to some extent by factors that affect an…

As an exchange professor the author gives his impression of German courses in the American college and proposes a methodology which he considers would be more fruitful. (Text is in German.) (TL)

Patterns of foreign language retention among young children who have been removed from a language contact situation for a period of time are studied. (PP)

As an instructional practice in second and foreign language education, content-based instruction is not a fully revolutionary paradigm, but a spin-off approach which derives from the evolution of Communicative Language Teaching. Sharing with CLT the same fundamental principles, CBI bases its idiosyncrasy on promoting the use of subject matter for…

In an attempt to offer present and prospective language majors new employment opportunities, the Departments of Germanic and Romance Languages and the College of Business Administration have developed a four-year program leading to both a Certificate in Business Administration and a B.A. with a major in French, German or Spanish. (KM)

This paper outlines current cognitive perspectives on second language acquisition (SLA). The Associative-Cognitive CREED holds that SLA is governed by the same principles of associative and cognitive learning that underpin the rest of human knowledge. The major principles of the framework are that SLA is Construction-based, Rational,…

This paper argues for an interdisciplinary approach to beliefs about language learning research, and suggests that current studies in this area do not go far enough to examine the extent to which stable factors, such as individual learner differences, account for the nature of beliefs. Next, it elucidates how cognitive and personality psychology…

This manual contains rules for playing both training and contest versions of LAG (Language Assistant Game). LAG (Training) is designed to give language assistants practice in the general teaching skill of explaining. One of the many problems that may confront the assistant in the classroom is the situation where, after reading a passage or telling…

Continued interest in second language acquisition as a reflection of first language acquisition may be due to increasing evidence of universals in child language acquisition. Some research has indicated that second language acquisition patterns do not match first language acquisition patterns. Rather than arguing that second language acquisition…

R-QUAF (Rapid Question and Answer Formation) is a device which enables the English as a second language (ESL) class to systematically review previously studied sentence patterns in a brisk and lively way. The technique revolves around a wall chart with cue words for questions running down the left-hand side (to elicit the various structures to be…

Problems occur in teaching English to the child whose native language is not English because of a lack of relevant research about the specification of the native language and the transfer of reading skills from one language to another. Most bilingual instruction in the United States is based on either the "native language approach"…

This paper examines the problems of dispelling mistaken concepts about a country, or de-mythologizing students' ideas about a country's daily life, in foreign language instruction. Some conclusions about teaching culture are offered, and the teaching experiences which led to those conclusions are related. It is felt that much teaching about the…