Special issue devoted to foreign language instruction in adult education. (WB)

Rejects the assumptions which underlie the audiolingual method and offers two alternative propositions: (1) successful use of language requires the acquisition of communicative as well as linguistic competence and (2) first and second language learning are analogous processes. (Author/FB)

This paper attempts to sum up, in non-technical terms, the essential differences between the acquisition of a first and a second language. It represents a conviction that a large number of the key concepts of TESOL can be drawn out of this type of comparison. The opening paper presented to the Pre-Convention Study Groups at the TESOL Convention,…

Advantages and disadvantages of songs in the language classroom. (FWB)

Foreign language learning/acquisition is a highly complex intellectual-psychic/physical-social integration process that is different for each individual. Cognitive and affective emphases for language acquisition are discussed, along with changes in the student-teacher relationship and implications for teacher education. (Authors/PP)

Although language needs, strategies, and instructional situations vary considerably, some degree of integration of methods for native and second language instruction based on empirical research is recommended. The value of second language instructional methods for native language instruction, instruction for communicative competence, and the place…

Seven personality traits are examined as they relate to the speed of English acquisition among 13 children. Contrary to previous conclusions, faster learners did not seek to befriend or identify more with English-speaking children than slow learners, but were more talkative, responsive, and gregarious. Implications are discussed. (MSE)

English-speaking Canadian students were asked why they were learning French and why French-speaking Canadians wanted them to learn it, and the results were compared with their language proficiency and use. Students' expectations of motivational support from the French-Canadian community was a significant and sometimes unique predictor of…

Issues underlying current debate about language learning and teaching are discussed and categorized: views of language learning, views of language, program design, methodology, and psychological factors. It is suggested that educators are justifiably concerned with catering to students' varied needs, wants, and learning styles. (MSE)

In an investigation of how different types of topic reinstatements affected second language learners' recognition and recall of sentence topics in lectures, it was learned that repeated structures were more easily recalled and recognized than simple ones, and low English proficiency learners have poorer recall of complex structures. (MSE)

Two experiments are reported in which mismatched sounds and spelling were studied in Dutch pseudo-words used as stimuli in English lexical decision experiments. Results show mismatches in spelling or sound result in longer latencies for Dutch pseudo-words than for their nonword controls, supporting a cooperation model of lexical access. (MSE)