Reports a study of learning strategies with students of English as a second language (ESL). In Phase 1, students were interviewed to identify the range of learning strategies they were already using for specific activities. In Phase 2, students were trained to use learning strategies for vocabulary, listening, and speaking. (SED)

Examines the concept of self-assessment as it relates to the field of second languages and then reports on an ongoing research project in which a self-assessment questionnaire is being used as a placement instrument for students registering for language courses at the Center for Second Language Learning in Ottawa. (SED)

Presents the results of an experiment which examined the temporal characteristics of voiceless plosives in American English, Arabic, and Arabic-accented English. Results showed that Arabic-accented English departed from the target language goal and constituted an articulation type characterizable as more Arabic than Arabic itself. (Author/SED)

Reports a survey on student perceptions of articulation effectiveness which furnished data on three topics: (1) percentage of students who had to start a foreign language over in college; (2) reasons for dropping back, or articulation problems between secondary and postsecondary education; and (3) placement methods. (SED)

Discusses an alternative framework for handling language testing and proposes some tentative hypotheses concerning principles of language testing. Suggests that taking account of both interlanguage domain engagement and contextualization in testing research, production, and interpretation allows for a richer conceptualization of the language…

A within-subject design involving three Spanish speaking and three English speaking preschoolers with language handicaps provided support for the practice of initial language intervention in the native language when bilingualism is a goal and for transference/facilitation theories of second language learning. (CL)

Tests the hypothesis that second language (L2) students' approach to text reflects a top-down processing strategy in contrast to first language (L1) students' approach that is more text-driven. Results confirmed L2 subjects studied the texts less efficiently than L1 subjects. (HOD)

Discusses the hypothesis that pupils who read and understand a first language text (in this case, Romanian) fairly well, will be able to improve their reading and understanding of a second language (German) text after having learned and exercised certain reading strategies in both languages. (SED)

Second language immersion programs, originally developed in Canada some 20 years ago, have been implemented in a number of U.S. cities. Alternative forms of U.S. programs are described--enriched, magnet, and two-way bilingual--and research findings pertaining to the effectiveness of each are summarized and discussed. (Author)

The appearance of hesitation phenomena in the first (French) and second (English) language usage of 10 military college students and the subjective evaluation by 86 peer judges of the 10's fluency in each language were studied. Results confirmed the experimenters' a priori classification of the ten as high or low fluency speakers. (MSE)

Spanish/English bilingual and monolingual English-speaking children, ages 36 to 50 months, were recorded during interactions with their mothers. Analyses were made of recorded language (using selected morphological and syntactic features) and home language of bilingual children. It is concluded that results provide insight into bilingual…

This research investigates the psychometric properties of a Foreign Language Attitude Scale (FLAS). Stepwise regression indicated that the FLAS made a significant contribution to the prediction of FL grades. In a second study, correlations between the FLAS and standardized measures of FL reading and listening proficiency were in the middle .40s.…

Discusses the apparent opposition between the concepts of language learning and language acquisition in the context of adult second-language study. Proposes that these two concepts are mutually supportive, not mutually exclusive. Demonstrates how the implications of learning vs. acquisition can be integrated into a communicative…

Presents approaches to test development analysis, reliability, and validity based on criterion-referenced measurement principles and compares them with norm-referenced approaches in terms of the types of decisions that result from either approach. This is done by using data from an English-as-a-second-language achievement testing project at the…

Presents the results of a study of the errors made on essays by Moroccan students of English as a second language. The average number of grammatical errors was 10.62 per paper and the most frequent errors were related to tense, prepositions, articles, form, and concord. (SED)