A multilanguage project for development of a foreign-language curriculum is reported along with the teaching method that has evolved from it. The method is represented primarily in a set of "mini-courses," each being a short introduction to a given language. (Contains 34 references.) (Author/LB)

This article presents a survey and analysis of Examiners' Reports on French written papers, looking specifically at difficulties in using verbs appropriately. It draws on evidence from second-language acquisition research to determine the nature of the problem and hypothesizes links between the decline in written accuracy and the rise in oral…

The nativelike linguistic competence of an adult second-language learner of Egyptian Arabic who was first exposed to the target language after the close of the critical period is examined to determine what factors differentiate her from less successful naturalistic adult acquirers. The role of internalized grammar is discussed. (Contains 43…

The speech of a sample of Chinese and Korean nonnative speakers of English (n=30) was evaluated by raters of the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK) for a degree of fluency and by a computerized silent-pause-detection program. (35 references) (JL)

Hyperfluency, defined as discourse that is inappropriate and incompetent in the target audience's estimation, and its relationship to composition pedagogy are discussed. It is argued that hyperfluency can signal the growth of an individual's linguistic resources. (16 references) (Author/LB)

This study of 20 stuttering and 20 nonstuttering preschool children found that stuttering children scored lower on 7 out of 8 language measures, with no significant intergroup differences on articulation proficiency or fluency. There were few significant correlations between measures of stuttering rate, speaking rate, and language performance…

Ten preschool subjects exhibiting more disfluencies than 50 other subjects with language disorders were found to be older and score higher on vocabulary. Findings suggest some children with language disorders are at risk for fluency breakdown because of dysynchronies in development of lexical and syntactic aspects of language or as a result of…

Many language teachers experience frustrations about their lack of success in developing fluency in their students. Reasons for the difficulties are discussed, and the avoidance of short-cuts is advocated. (LB)

Recent advances in cross-language psycholinguistics provide reading researchers with both the models and the tools needed to investigate the syntactic processing of second-language (L2) readers. In this study, 48 first-language and 48 highly fluent L2 French readers read sentences containing constructions that do not exist in English, pre-verbal…

Discusses culture, its linguistic representation, intercultural communication, and the requirements these three set for foreign-language teaching. The author illustrates that true communication requires awareness and sensitivity to cultural, as well as language-differences. (GR)

The use of distance education for clinical skills development in the health professions has not been extensively described, due in part to the intensive nature of the relationship between the patient and practitioner. In the context of pharmacy practice, there are specific needs to develop new vehicles for clinical skills education due to growing…

Active spoken mastery of a foreign language all too often remains an illusive wish on the part of language learners. There is a tendency to seek the causes of non-fluency and accurate speech outside the classroom, for example, too little involvement, interest and time investment on the part of learners. In this article Manuela Macedonia asserts…

An emerging body of literature points to the prominent role of the frontal lobes in the retrieval of verbs, whereas production of common and proper nouns arguably is mediated primarily by posterior and anterior temporal regions, respectively. Although the majority of studies examining the neuroanatomic distinctions between verb and noun retrieval…

This study investigates the role of context of learning in second language (L2) acquisition. Participants were 40 native speakers of English studying Spanish for one semester in one of two different learning contexts--a formal classroom at a home university (AH) and a study abroad (SA) setting. The research looks at various indexes of oral…

This article describes the benefits of teaching nursery rhymes to students, particularly as it relates to language and sound patterns. Most cultures have parallel forms of nursery rhymes, limericks and simple poetry that children easily understand and enjoy. Yet teachers of young children report that many of their students do not know a single…