Explores how second-language (L2) learners often develop grammatical competence in the absence of concomitant pragmatic competence. Looks at the extent to which instructed L2 learners of English are aware of differences in target-language production in grammar, which addresses the accuracy of utterances, and in pragmatics, which addresses the…

Examines the discourse of the social services intake interview, which is part of the process of obtaining financial benefits in the United States. The genre of the interview is described with particular focus on the performance of two native speakers and one nonnative speaker of English. Argues that instruction in how to participate in this genre…

Focuses on how Chinese writers of academic texts in English have a tendency to place topic-fronting devices and logical connectors in sentence-initial position when introducing new information. A corpus of academic writing by Chinese subjects was tagged o detect occurrences of the above. (Author/VWL)

Discusses whether it is worthwhile to refer the literal sense or origin of an unfamiliar figurative expression as it is encountered by a language learner in specialized reading. Cognitive semantic tools were applied to reading economic discourse. The hypothesis that an enhanced metaphoric awareness on the part of language learners can be…

Re-examines the case of the "pseudo-passive," an interlanguage structure considered typical of first-language Chinese learners of second language English. Earlier approaches to the analysis of the structure--typological and syntactic--are reviewed and an alternative approach--discourse-syntactic--is proposed to bridge a methodological…

English language teaching is a field in transition as it seeks new approaches and reexamines older ones in an effort to address the range and level of proficiency required in today's global community. Describes the context of the transitional period, discusses contributions of second language acquisition theory and research, and reviews classroom…

Presents a checklist to see whether it can help shed light on English-as-a-foreign-language students' use of language learning strategies by looking at their diaries. Reveals interesting differences between successful and less successful students, and discusses questions about strategy use in general. (Author/VWL)

Explores the links between second language use, membership, and social contexts through the accounts of recently arrived immigrant students in Australian high schools. Argues that a key notion linking language use and identity is that of self-representation. (Author/VWL)

Four ideas for use in the English-as-Second-Language classroom are presented: (1) using the World Series to practice name recognition; (2) current events portfolios; (3) creating standards sheets for writing assignments; and (4) decreasing the likelihood of stragglers in class. (Author/VWL)

Describes an interactive English-as-foreign-language methodology course for elementary school teachers. The class used an input loop methodology, where the instructors in the methodology course model the technique they are teaching. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on languages for specific purposes, providing a brief historical perspective, examining it as a profession, discipline, or neither; its role in science and law; language for business purposes; and the position of English worldwide. (Author/VWL)

Introduces a teaching activity designed to address sociocultural competence in the classroom. Recommends the use of discourse rating tasks (DRTs) to develop students' awareness of appropriate second language use and offers structured practice with DRTs and role plays as a means of transforming students' sociocultural awareness into sociocultural…

Explores different ways of transcribing a fragment of classroom discourse, showing how these ways determine the resulting analysis and what emerges from it. Identifies three distinct "frames" of classroom interaction, which are referred to as lesson, lesson-support, and commentary. (Author/VWL)

Investigated the beliefs, decision-making processes, attitudes, activities, and behaviors of university-level teaching assistants of French as they met once in a week in electronic classrooms and three times a week in non-computer-equipped classrooms. (Author/VWL)

Addresses use of the World Wide Web in the foreign language classroom. Introduces methodological considerations for effective implementation, discusses predidacticized material available on the Web, provides practical examples of applications that focus on enhancing communicative proficiency, and presents activities for practicing grammar items in…