The terrorist attacks of September 11th, the Global War on Terrorism, and the continued threat to the Homeland have defined the critical need to take action to improve the foreign language and cultural capabilities of the Nation. The government must act now to improve the gathering and analysis of information, advance international diplomacy, and…

Examining the overseas experience of language learners in diverse contexts through a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, studies in this volume look at the acquisition of language use, socialization processes, learner motivation, identity and learning strategies. In this way, the volume offers a privileged window into learner…

Video provides (1) simultaneous audio/visual input, and (2) complete and contextualized conversations, and thus proves to be a rich vehicle in foreign language instruction. The video drama "Connect with English" (a.k.a. "Rebecca's Dream"), created to promote English language learning, is particularly outstanding in that it contains an captivating…

This CD-ROM provides a resource for anyone interested in the diverse languages of the Pacific. It contains a digital archive of approximately 700 booklets in 11 Pacific languages. The original booklets were produced several years ago by the PALM project in order to record Pacific regional languages and to serve as teaching tools. This digital PALM…

This book offers teachers the tools they need to incorporate drama into their language classes. It provides instructions on how to do the following: conduct a drama class; use acting and role-play exercises; select appropriate scripts for language learners; guide students to write their own scripts; and dramatize scripts for performance. Chapter…

This report describes a qualitative research project designed to evaluate the use of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) in Irish post-primary schools. The project was coordinated by the Centre for Language and Communication Studies, Trinity College Dublin, and involved the participation of language teachers and learners from a number of schools…

This paper discusses the roles of the student, teacher, and language researcher in understanding motivation to learn another language. It highlights the socioeducational model of second language acquisition. Although this model considers motivation to learn another language from the student's point of view, other contributors include the teacher,…

This paper proposes that activity theory provides a useful framework for understanding how students learn to write in a foreign language and how student and classroom practices evolve over time. Activity theory emphasizes the sociocultural and historical nature of the learning setting. The paper outlines central tenets of activity theory,…

This study examined the quality of three English vowels and their Korean counterpart vowels by measuring F1/F2 frequencies and investigating how the different vowel qualities influenced consonant voicing. Participants were six native speakers (NS) of English and six NS of Korean who were graduate students at a large U.S. university. F1/F2…

This study examined the writing profiles of three Japanese writers with distinctly different writing experiences, investigating participants' school writing experiences and attitudes toward writing, characteristics of the composing process, and teaching implications. The three Japanese participants included an experienced writer in both Japanese…

This digest presents an overview of accommodations for students of limited English proficiency (LEP) and an overview of inclusion practices on statewide assessments, with emphasis on the accommodation known as linguistic simplification. The inclusion of LEP students in statewide testing programs over the last decade has been uneven. In the…

This information sheet will assist teachers and coordinators in determining the suitability of the Certificates in English Language Literacies (CELL) curriculum for use by examining the potential target group of learners. This information also provides an overview of some of CELL's organizing features and its framework. Topics covered include:…

This study evaluated a semester-long English learning strategy training course in terms of its impact on students' learning achievement, attitudes, anxiety, and proficiency. Participants were 47 Taiwanese college students who were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. Prior to the course, all participants took the Test of English as…

This report describes a districtwide evaluation of the instructional services provided to English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in Structured English Immersion classrooms in grades 1-3. The program uses two models (teaching in English, with the primary language for clarification, and teaching primarily in English, with other instruction in the…

This book examines often-cited but poorly-supported claims that immigrants fail to learn English and the mistaken belief that immigrant communities cling to their heritage languages, revealing that, in actuality, English is being rapidly learned while heritage languages are disappearing quickly from family use. The book shows how current…