Presenting four types of evidence, this article argues that grammatical competence should not be a subcomponent of communicative competence in second-language instruction, but have a separate status. Focuses on the critical role of grammatical competence in the overall development of target-language proficiency. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the Defense Language Institute's Foreign Language Center's (DLIFLC) annual program review. Representatives from the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, HQ TRADOC, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence met to discuss…

Suggests that within the context of the Air Expedition Force, the United States Air Force must validate language skills and change current policies and practices to meet new, more dynamic requirements. Recommends a fresh look at language skills, especially for officers. (Author/VWL)

To discover the extent to which academic register develops in language-minority children, it is important to describe the academic register of the minority language and then to develop instruments to measure its development. This article looks at the means that were developed to accomplish these two tasks of description and instrument development…

Investigated the role of language proficiency and automatization of language skills in the use of spontaneous rehearsal strategies by 7- to 13-year olds who are deaf. Regression analyses demonstrated that age was a nonsignificant predictor of rehearsal use and that language proficiency and the automatization of language skills were highly…

Focuses on the introduction of standards in the Australian educational setting, which have been used to measure language learning. Suggests that language teaching and assessment are likely to be most effective if teachers' awareness extends beyond the technicalities of assessment. (Author/VWL)

Considers the organization of the wording of the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) descriptions of four language skills across five levels, principally as they relate to second-language learners. A paper is summarized that posits four textual levels that may be assumed to cover the communicative needs of speakers of most, if not all,…

Presents the fourth year of research on a project documenting and evaluating a core Japanese foreign language in the elementary school (FLES) program. Data are analyzed for 32 students. Findings reveal that overall linguistic growth was significant in Year 4. Profiles and provides a cross-case analysis of six students who have participated in the…

This case study is a preliminary look at different styles associated with different activities preferred by students in a foreign language homestay situation, in this case 29 American college students in Guatemala, the stability of their choices of activities, and increments in their Spanish language performance after one month. (Author/VWL)

Investigated the role in second language (L2) learning of ethnocentrism, cultural and personality traits, and acceptance of values and beliefs expressed in myths and proverbs. Japanese adults (n-108) living in North American were asked how much they agreed with or accepted statements expressing ethnocentric views about Japanese culture and…

Discusses a general theory of signs showing that the relationship between acquired language proficiencies and nonverbal abilities must be closer than commonly supposed. Presents a general theory of signs showing why it is possible in principle to make linguistically and culturally unbiased judgments about intellectual abilities on the basis of…

Using data from the National Adult Literacy Survey, explores the English fluency and literacy of U.S. adults whose native language is not English, their fluency and literacy in their native language, and their employment patterns and earnings. Data show that only nonnative English speakers with low levels of formal education were truly…

Looks at a sample conversation and examines layers of interpretation that different academic traditions have constructed to interpret it. Reviews studies that have compared the discourse of oral interaction in assessment with oral discourse in contexts outside the assessment. Discusses studies that related ways of speaking to cultural values of…

This study sought to determine whether extroversion or introversion has anything to do with English-as-a-foreign-language learning and content-subject learning of Iranian non-English major postgraduates currently studying in the United Kingdom. Subjects were given the Persian form of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire twice and asked to report…

A pilot study used the Spanish Oral Proficiency Test (SOPT)--a taped oral test--to evaluate the oral proficiency level of students of intermediate Spanish. Also examined what variables might affect the development of students' oral skills. (Author/VWL)