A study investigating the relationship between motivation, study time, and student achievement in second language courses has as subjects 97 tenth- and eleventh-grade English speakers in introductory French, German, and Spanish courses. Two surveys measured motivational factors and the amount of time spent studying the second language. Motivation…

The status of English as learned and used by Chinese students in South Africa was investigated to provide perspective on the language policy. Language planners in South Africa require that all secondary school students be taught and tested through the medium of either English or Afrikaans, regardless of their mother tongue. The students are…

This paper explains the principles involved in tape editing and recording for foreign language teaching and in the assessment of the quality of the finished product. Three major points involved in tape making are discussed: (1) compilation of a listening text (requires familiarity with foreign language learning and teaching, as well as an…

A bibliography on politeness as it relates to second language learning and intercultural relationships contains 188 citations of books, papers, articles, and monographs. Several aspects of politeness are covered, including acquisition by children, gender and power differences in polite behavior, and its relationship to communicative functions such…

An individual who undertook the study of Lithuanian recounts his experiences in getting started and provides information about available materials and radio broadcasts in the language. Texts, tapes, records, and materials designed for children are listed and sources provided. Techniques found to be useful for independent language learning are also…

The use of factor analysis in examining the dimensionality of language tests is questioned and found to be problematic because it has a number of weak points which make it possible to manipulate results. Some of these weaknesses occur in the examinee selection sample, test selection, and the methods of extraction and rotation chosen. The use of…

Observation of machine or production operators in a Singapore factory for insight into their need for English language skills, existing skills, and the results of a basic English language program in which many were enrolled revealed that, although the workers were generally poorly educated and had minimal English skills, they were able to decode…

Research on adult learning shows that there is no decline in ability to learn as people get older, that except for minor considerations such as hearing and vision loss, the age of the adult learner is not a major factor in language acquisition, and that the context in which adults learn is the major influence on their ability to acquire a new…

Research indicates four sources for the use of the first language in the second language classroom. Environment and the learners cannot be easily controlled, but materials and teachers can. The goal of such control is to increase second language input primarily at the macro level for reading, listening, and speaking practice, thus speeding up the…

This book on the theory and practice of language teaching and learning develops the argument that learning a language depends on "what goes on inside and between the people in the classroom." The material is presented in three parts. Part 1 is a nontechnical account of how teacher and students interact, and of how the mind deals with foreign…

In the hope of filling in a missing link for experimental psychologists' research on reading, this paper provides a general review of research on the issue of orthography and its relation to reading. The traditional classification of logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic modes are examined to see how much orthographic variations affect the…

An observable feature of learner language, linguistic variability, is described and used as the basis for speculating about an aspect of the process of second language learning. It is hypothesized that variation in correct use of target language forms varies as a function of the demands placed on the learner to produce these forms. Three groups of…

A study was conducted to find out from learners how they actually direct their own language learning in a variety of social settings. In this study, self direction includes the phenomena represented by the terms "conscious learning strategies," either a focused approach or a general strategy, and "self directed learning," in distinction from…

Research suggests that interaction between native speakers (NSs) and second language learners (non-native speakers) (NNSs) is characteristically different from speech between NSs, and that it is the modified nature of NS-NNS interaction which provides learners with optimal input. A study was undertaken to determine whether input and interactional…

A fundamental principle of second language acquisition is stated and applied to language teaching. The principle states that learners acquire a second language when they receive comprehensible input in situations where their affective filters are sufficiently low. The theoretical background of this principle consists of five hypotheses: the…