This article discusses practical considerations in developing tests of listening comprehension in second language learning with a particular emphasis on the choice of listening passages and assessment tasks. The listening construct is defined as the process of receiving, attending to, and assigning meaning to aural stimuli. Questions should be…

Foreign or second language (L2) acquisition literature frequently makes the claim that, by not facilitating interaction, distance learning fails to create the conditions necessary for achieving the goals of widely accepted L2 communicative curriculum. This assumption is not as yet supported by any empirical evidence from L2 acquisition research.…

Most language teachers have been trained to teach adults. Because children learn languages quickly and well, their teaching demands more energy, quick thinking, and materials than does the instruction of adults. An essential element of successful language teaching with children is to understand their perspective, both physical and intellectual.…

This paper reports on a research project that examined nonnative Southampton University (England) students' attitudes to continued language learning and the importance of language learning and cultural adaptation. A survey was administered to pre-sessional and in-sessional students that included information on background, past and present language…

From 1980 to 1990, the number of native Spanish speakers in the service region of Virginia's Germanna Community College (GCC) increased significantly. In response, GCC implemented a Spanish language occupational/technical curricula for law enforcement personnel and health professionals. Classes focused on the development of highly effective…

While Europe is experiencing new transnationalism based on technical economic links, European preschool education is not as accommodating to multicultural growth as economic growth has been. In many schools, children are forced to learn and interact in a language foreign to them. This break with their mother tongue is also a break with maternal…

It is argued that in the culturally rich communities developing in the United States, educators can do much more to develop literacy programs that reflect real student needs, differences, and talents. Widespread dependency on pre-defined curricula and assessment is seen as perpetuating outdated classroom strategies and techniques that do not work.…

This paper describes an agenda for expanding interest and motivation among sixth-grade foreign language students in a middle-class suburban community located in northeastern Illinois. The problem was originally noted by the teaching staff/researchers who found students unable to focus and maintain attention during class. Administration of surveys…

A study extended previous research on second language learners' use of interlanguage knowledge in making grammaticality judgments. The grammatical construction under consideration is the existential-presentational (E-P) sentence. This construction is described, and it is shown how, due to universal constraints of information structure, it is…

This instructional guide for Fulani (Fulfulde), an African language, is designed for the language training of Peace Corps volunteers and focuses on daily interactions and activities in that context. A series of 32 lessons, each based on a single language competence, are presented in ten broad theme-based units. Themes include: greetings and…

Speaking a second language is probably the most difficult skill to test in that it involves a combination of skills that may have no correlation with each other, and which do not lend themselves to objective testing. In addition, what can be understood is a function of the listener's background and ability as well as those of the speaker. Another…

The current state of research on cross-cultural speech acts is examined, its applicability to the second language classroom is evaluated, and new directions for research, with more relevance for classroom practice, are recommended. Problems found with cross-cultural speech act research to date include questions it has raised about the universal…

Two studies investigated whether two conventions in the use of adversative conjunctions in English are acquired by native Spanish-speakers who are highly proficient in English. The two conventions are: (1) selection of "but" to introduce foreground information and (2) use of "although" to introduce background information. Subjects in the first…

This report summarizes the results and impact of Title I and Chapter I reforms. In 1992-93, elementary and secondary students (n=6,403,054) participated in Chapter I in the United States; 17 percent of this population was limited English proficient (LEP). Although the program has helped many, educators and researchers have questioned the…

The cognitive aspect of second language learning, specifically by immersion method, is discussed from a biological perspective. The approach taken is that of "connectionism," a recently-developed theoretical and experimental approach to human cognition. It is argued that while general cognitive functioning is unaffected by language immersion,…