Addresses some of the recent debates regarding second-language acquisition (SLA). Draws on studies of school restructuring and argues that SLA needs to be understood as an institutional phenomenon, because the ways in which schools are structured present or constrain possibilities for language use and development. (Author/VWL)

This study investigated the role of several sociocultural variables involved in the acculturation process and their relationship to second-language learning and well-being. A causal modeling analysis indicated that an assimilation mode of acculturation was positively related to self-rated English proficiency and preference for responding to the…

Provides six successful techniques for summary writing that have been used with students in a preservice English-as-a-Foreign-Language teacher-training college. (Author/VWL)

Examines the problem of foreign-language syllabi in a brief historical review. The three main types of syllabi are described--structural, notional-functional, procedural task-based. Suggests that methodologies that cover language description, learning theories, and needs analysis should be reflected in English for special purposes courses or…

Examined increased use of French as a medium of instruction in an early French program in the intermediate school years. Interim results reveal limited evidence for benefits of intensified French for French literacy, constrained evidence of risks associated with French intensification in the domain of English reading, and no evidence of a…

Examines the importance of parental support for early immersion in the context of a study of Irish-medium preschools. Data were collected from all participants in this early-immersion model, including parents, classroom assistants, and inspectors, in addition to detailed tests of 225 3-year-old children. (Author/VWL)

Reflects on the configuration of methods--personal language-learning history, journals, video observations, interviews, and pre/post-language proficiency tests--used to explore the experiences of 23 French second-language learners as they worked independently with an interactive-video program. (Author/VWL)

This study focuses on changes in listener ability to identify a language after brief periods of exposure. Specifically, it looks at whether minimal exposure to spoken samples of a language improve identification of novel samples and in what ways exposure materials affect listener performance. (Author/JL)

Presents results from ongoing research about non-adapted language switches, highlighting a longitudinal study of an adult learner of third-language (L3) Swedish with first-language (L1) English and second-language (L2) German. The study is based on 844 non-adapted language switches. Researchers identified four types of switches. Results indicated…

Reports the results of research attempting to document the role of learners' linguistic output in drawing their attention to linguistic form and in acquiring the form. Compares experimental and comparison groups that participated in a pretest, two post-tests, and four learning tasks. (Author/VWL)

Investigated effects of multimedia reading software on reading comprehension. Twelve college students enrolled in a second semester French course were instructed to think aloud during reading of text on the computer screen. They read text under one of three conditions: full glossing, limited glossing, no glossing. Suggests computerized reading…

Reviews research on the acquisition of suprasegmentals by second language learners and the potential of computer-based instructional materials for improving intonation; describes and critiques some of the software previously available for this purpose; and suggests criteria for the conceptualization of multimedia software and concomitant research…

Reports the steps and findings of a mini-action research study conducted by a Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center language teacher. Focused on how this teacher varied classroom activities. Participants were U.S. military personnel studying Turkish at the advanced beginner level. (Author/VWL)

Discusses how Latina educators build bridges for themselves and those who follow, identity factors for Latinas, the growth and diversity of Latina educators their challenges along the career path, their language proficiency, interrupted schooling, perceptions of others, and workplace culture. (Author/VWL)

Reviews the nature and functions of prosody, and contrasts English and Cantonese for this feature of language as background for two experimental studies. Thirty Cantonese advanced speakers of English were tested for their recognition memory of English sentences in which prosody-cued meaning contrasts in otherwise identical sentence pairs. Results…