Explores the following issues: the responsibility of language teachers in teaching the cultural dimension of language; the role of technology in relation to language description and language learning; the relationship between costs and value in language teacher education; and the relationship between linguistic and pedagogic competence in native…

The intuitions and reasoned judgments of second-language learners of English were compared on a number of semantic and syntactic phenomena in the language. Because scores on the semantic tasks were higher than on syntactic tasks, it is assumed that classroom instruction should follow the same route. (24 references) (Author/LB)

A California pilot program is described in which five hard-of-hearing students enrolled in a mainstream high school German class. Although their speech in English was limited and their hearing loss was severe, they kept up with their hearing classmates in reading, writing, and listening (lip reading) and could speak as intelligibly in German as in…

A book entitled "Interactive French Language Curricula of the Future: A Study of Computer and Video Potential" by Lydie Meunier-Cinko is summarized. Some examples of current computer and video use are outlined, with language skill applications discussed, and future design of interactive language curricula is examined. (MSE)

"One size fits all" literacy instruction works against the success of limited and non-English speaking students. Process instruction, tailoring literacy education to account for students' linguistic and cultural diversity, must begin with the premise that each learner brings a valid language and culture to the instructional context.…

Topical structure analysis of English-as-a-Second-Language essay tests identified two topical structure variables, proportions of sequential and parallel topics in the essays, that differentiated the highest-rated essays from the lower-rated essays. (46 references) (Author/CB)

Describes recent developments in heritage language education in British Columbia, Canada, discussing issues a heritage language advisory committee encountered in creating such policy, defining heritage language and the clientele for heritage language education, reviewing appropriate curricula, encouraging program development, and arranging…

Examines whether communication occurring in a second-language classroom setting sufficiently ensures development of full target language competence. The ability of 2 English-as-a-Second-Language students to "request" in English was followed over 15-21 months. Results indicated that the classroom did not provide the conditions necessary…

In a Norwegian study of fifth grade linguistic minority (LM) children's comprehension of the language of instruction, it was found that some LM children still have serious comprehension problems in spite of being born and schooled in Norway. Teachers correctly expected the LM children to comprehend less than their Norwegian classmates. (33…

Examined strategies that students reported using in the comprehension and learning of new information while listening to two radio broadcasts in Spanish. The findings have implications for both the use of authentic listening materials in instruction and for listening strategy research. (51 references) (LB)

Based on the results of native and foreign language assessments of high school learners, it is inferred that students with foreign language learning difficulties have subtle but underlying native language learning difficulties, especially in the phonological and syntactic codes of language. Implications for diagnosis and teaching are discussed.…

This study proposes an alternative approach to research on the acquisition of sociocultural competence, focusing on a speech event rather than a speech act, and drawing on the concept of scripts as developed by cognitive psychologists. (51 references) (JL)

Study of the effect of supplying audio tapes to accompany leisure reading books in Irish found that the tapes considerably increased native-English-speaking elementary school students' motivation to read, facilitated comprehension, and increased the children's reading rate and pronunciation accuracy. (36 references) (Author/CB)

Investigates hypothesis that topic familiarity and assessed difficulty of a text correlate positively with performance on reading comprehension tests. A study of 177 advanced students of English for Specific Purposes indicates that students' subjective evaluation of the relative difficulty of a reading text is not always a reliable index of their…

Describes projects at the University of Central Florida to test new training technologies under controlled but realistic settings. Original plans for an "Experimental Prototyping Classroom" are discussed; and current developments in language training research, gaming technology, and virtual environments are described. (EAM)