Focuses on the need for self-assessment as a learning strategy for second language learning. Argues that self-assessment produces learners who are more active and focused and better placed to assess their own progress in terms of communication. Offers practical suggestions for carrying self-assessment at the secondary school and university level.…

Students in advanced business Spanish courses gave oral presentations on geo-political and economic conditions in chosen Hispanic countries. The goals of these reports were to increase awareness of the unique identities of these countries, to introduce research tools for use in business research, and to inculcate linguistic and humanistic…

Discusses and explains the conditions under which first language transfer occurs in terms of the connectionist framework of second language representation, processing, and acquisition. Identifies these conditions as interlingual mapping, markedness, language distance, learner characteristics, cognitive load and sociolinguistic context. (104…

This article describes Funetics, a game for teaching introductory French to gifted students that uses cartoon logos to represent words. The principles of logo formation and implementation are discussed. The article also reviews the psychological theory embodied in the game, how gifted students process the game, and the game's pedagogical value.…

Summarizes Hillock's findings regarding first-language composition instruction and compares them to research into second-language composition instruction. The article discusses implications for teaching writing to English-as-a-Second-Language students and recommends a process/product, task-based approach to writing instruction. (20 references)…

Preservice teachers in Spain showed clear support for the theoretical principles of bilingual education, but less support for its practical implementation. (Author/VWL)

Contends second language literature yields little empirical evidence of a relationship between the features associated with first language voice and quality of academic writing. Writing samples requiring learners to argue in favor of or against an aspect of Canada's immigration policy were elicited from 63 students in a writing-intensive…

This article synthesizes key principles that teachers should utilize to support English language learners in mainstream early childhood classrooms. Principles include treating children fairly, which entails treating children differently; providing an appropriate language environment; providing adequate English instruction to allow basic…

Presents the results of an anonymous, Internet-based questionnaire study on target language and first language use in university-level foreign language classes. Goals were to develop preliminary components of a descriptive model of target language and first language use and explore the relationships between target language and student anxiety…

Suggests second language writing research on English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners' transfer of registers into their academic written discourse is predicated on a native speaker/nonnative speaker dichotomy. Addresses shortcomings of this strict native speaker/nonnative speaker ESL dichotomy by examining the extent to which creole-English…

Highlights a practicum course designed to train upper-level undergraduates as English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing tutors for their peers. The course offers tutors intensive, basic training in tutoring, TESL, and pedagogical grammar for 2 weeks before they begin tutoring. (Author/VWL)

Examines the extent to which research findings from second language and immersion programs--concerning the efficacy of different instructional approaches--are transferable to the context of foreign language learning in British higher education. Data are drawn from a study of German learners exposed to focus on form tuition and focus on forms…

Examines the composing process and writing strategies of three lower proficiency Japanese subjects in their first language (L1) and second language (L2). Found that while some L1 strategies may transfer to the L2 writing processes, lower proficiency writers struggle in utilizing all strategies that could help their writing process in the L2.…

Argues that a transcript of a whole class of primary children who were video-recorded while engaged in a role-play activity provides support for the view that children's learning can be seen as a socio-historically and culturally-constituted dialogical process of meaning making. Draws on Bakhtin's ideas about the power of dialogic engagement to…

Highlights two speaking activities for use in the English-as-a-Second-Language classroom that aim to meet students' specific conversational needs. Provides a sample feedback form and suggestions on how to implement it that will increase the effectiveness of the proposed activities. (Author/VWL)