Describes the BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English and demonstrates its usefulness for advanced learners of English by administering a monolingual completion test, first without a dictionary and then with the BBI, to Hungarian and Russian English teachers. Both groups' scores improved dramatically on the posttest. (LMO)

Reviews research and empirical evidence to refute three first language acquisition myths: (1) comprehension precedes production; (2) children acquire language in a systematic, rule-governed way; and (3) the impetus behind first language acquisition is communicative need. (Author/CB)

Discussion of ways in which second-language learners' processing of and interaction with narrative and expository texts affects their performance on cloze tests suggests that researchers and teachers interpreting these tests should not assume that such tests only assess language ability. (CB)

Discusses the social and linguistic problems of children living in Sweden who have at least one Italian immigrant parent. (CFM)

Considers reasons why schools have not successfully involved parents in bilingual education programs. Considerations to be addressed to improve the situation include (1) the concept of parent involvement; (2) the major characteristics of parent involvement in bilingual education; (3) the reconceptualization of parent involvement; and (4) the role…

Presents a model of second language acquisition based on the social-psychology of acculturation, including factors in social, affective, personality, cognitive, biological, aptitude, personal, input, and instructional areas. Studies which test this model are reviewed and evaluated. (Author/CB)

Investigation of discourse structures in bilingual (German-English) families indicated that parents' discursive strategies were related to the children's acquisition of the minority language and that children were more likely to speak the minority language if the respective parent employed a more child-centered mode of interaction than the parent…

Describes the concept of "hypermedia," by which readers select and link segments of text, audio, video, or other media in a way that helps them to explore and understand information. A case is made for the use of "hypermedia" in helping students learn and understand language through its provision of massive doses of…

Proposes a future agenda for the development of foreign language education, involving development of a pedagogy of cross-cultural literacy; reintroduction of discourse of Third World literatures and cultures; and student engagement in the major ethical and social issues. (CB)

A study of three different applications of cloze procedure to test reading comprehension in college students of German as a second language suggests that the procedure may not yield a valid or reliable assessment of global comprehension in second-language learning. (Author/MSE)

Advocates a "process" viewpoint of language use for second language proficiency testing and explores its potential for greater insights from five perspectives: text linguistics and discourse analysis; interlanguage; expectancy; negotiation and interaction; and communication strategies. (Author/CB)

Explores several areas related to the development of reading skills in the Business Foreign Language course, including pre-reading activities, schema theory, the importance of background knowledge, and post-reading activities, and presents examples of how such activities as reading periodicals in the second language can enhance learning.…

Describes the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning, which is made up of 11 major private research universities. This group seeks an active forum for discussion and cost-effective solutions to major problems in foreign language education. (CB)

Argues that culture, ethnicity, and class place the Puerto Rican student in a position subordinate to the majority and that administrators, teachers, and staff, by their tacit transmission of unstated norms, values, and beliefs, reproduce relations of domination and power and provide for differential schooling. (SRT)

Reports a study of native Spanish speakers' acquisition of the ability to discriminate lexically in English between similar items with different characteristics. The study also examined the role of first-language interference in the process. (MSE)