Describes on Israeli English-as-a-Foreign-Language teacher's action research project that focused on how to teach reading comprehension in English to a class of ninth grade boys. Outlines the teacher's goals, implementation of the project, and thoughts on the outcomes. (Author/VWL)

Examined relations between communicative competence and five dimensions of personality in 241 first and second language learning children in the Netherlands. To determine underlying communicative competence of the first and second language learners of Dutch, a broad array of linguistic measures and teacher judgments were collected. Results are…

Reports on an exploratory study that investigated the comparability of listening assessment tasks used to assess and report learning outcomes of adult English-as-a-Second-Language learners in Australia. Focused on the effects of task characteristics and task conditions on learners' performance in competency-based listening assessment tasks that…

Examines prekindergarten children's process of learning a commonly occurring classroom discourse structure--an instructional exchange consisting of three moves: teacher solicitation, student response, and teacher reaction. Finds that children's success in learning the structure is a result of maturity and sociocultural factors rather than to…

Describes several techniques using older technology to develop listening and speaking skills, and explains how readily available materials (transparencies, slides and tape shows, miming and pairing, commercial video, audiotapes, videotapes) can be used effectively in the classroom as well as in the laboratory. (seven references) (GLR)

Discusses the use of Jiejing, a computer program that offers the learner several features that enhance both recognition and production skills in the learning of Chinese and Japanese in Australia. Students learn to produce common expressions and to discriminate the distinctive features of the new sound systems. (GLR)

Explains the differences between constituency and dependency theories for structural linguistics. Reasons are provided for why the former has been indirectly responsible for the neglect of lexical acquisition in language acquisition research and for proposing a notation based on dependency theory for describing learners' segmentation of initially…

Sociocultural and historical examination of the kind of English used in Japanese university entrance examinations suggests that such usage mirrors and reinforces general Japanese attitudes about language, language learning, and national interests, resulting in a closed system highly resistant to change. (28 references) (Author/CB)

Theory and research suggest three ways grammar instruction might assist second-language acquisition. These include the following: as an advance organizer; as a meaning-form focus in communication activities where there are many examples of a single meaning-form relationship; and through monitoring, if learners can acquire their own input. (41…

Explores some of the current thinking on the cognitive processes involved in reading in a foreign language and describes alternative learning activities based on an analysis of these processes. (49 references) (GLR)

Focuses on the performance levels of the Test of English for Educational Purposes (TEEP) and English Language Testing Service (ELTS) tests. It is concluded that more attention should be paid to the process underlying test performance. (15 references) (GLR)

Reviews a study that was designed to find evidence of factors influencing the kind of interaction found in small-group work in language learning among young adult English teacher trainees in a developing country. (22 references) (GLR)

Discusses the different approaches to teaching reading to young Nigerian children. Points out the merits and demerits of the approaches. Alerts readers to the urgent need to open up studies on what is the best approach to teach reading to Nigerian children. (MG)

Examines the qualities and frequency of episodes of concurrent metalinguistic and ideational thinking reported verbally by second-language learners while they composed. Finds frequencies of thinking episodes is significantly related to learners' writing expertise in their mother tongue. Argues for integrating the notion of comprehensible output…

Comparison of college students' (N=14) graded and ungraded Spanish compositions revealed that, when they anticipated receiving a grade, students wrote longer compositions with more complex sentences. However, the type and number of errors varied among students. (CB)