This book focuses on appropriate English for Academic Purposes instructional concepts and methods in the Japanese context. It investigates a variety of pedagogical techniques, addressing the fundamental academic English skills -- listening, speaking, reading and writing -- as well as assessment and materials development. All the research included…

A study investigated whether: (1) deletion of relationals, which are function words in Japanese, from Japanese text affects the text processing strategies of native and nonnative readers, as measured by indices of reading time and comprehension; (2) nonnative readers' proficiency levels affect reading strategies when processing Japanese texts with…

Research on brain hemisphere functions appears to indicate that (1) lateralization occurs from about age five to puberty; (2) both hemispheres are involved in language learning in ways not yet fully understood; (3) after age fifteen, pronunciation learning becomes difficult; (4) older language learners learn more quickly, but younger learners…

A mnemonic device is any technique or system to improve or aid the memory by use of formulas. Memory aids enjoyed great popularity in ancient times, but with the advent of literacy, the need for memorization was lessened and mnemonics were not taught regularly. However, recent research in cognitive psychology suggests that mnemonics, taught and…

In a study of the application natural language processing to second-language instruction, two versions of the Nihongo-CALI (computer-assisted language instruction) system were developed. Empirical data support the possibility/effectiveness of intelligent CALI to facilitate second-language acquisition. (19 references) (LB)

In response to a published study of second-language input processing and processing instruction, a relatively new concept in language teaching, misinterpretations of theoretical and conceptual issues are pointed out and methodological concerns about the study are discussed. (MSE)

A study compares and contrasts a set of English and Spanish prepositions of location in the context of prototype theory. It seeks to establish the prototype concept of each preposition and the degrees of prototypicality by testing for native-speaker choices of examples that illustrate best the most basic use of the preposition. The prepositions…

The aim of this book is to provide a thorough account of what is known about the acquisition of reading abilities in a second language and to foster a more principled research and instruction in second language literacy. Discussion is set forth from a variety of perspectives: first, through examinations of theoretical models of the reading process…

In interlanguage, the transitional state reaching from one's native language to a given target language, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical, sociocultural, or psycholinguistic errors may be generated and systematized by the process of fossilization. Depending on the amount of time needed for remediation, fossilized features may be…

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…

This book defines and reviews five central problems in the study of second language acquisition (SLA): (subconscious) transfer, staged development, cross-learner systematicity, incompleteness, and variability. The central thesis of the text is that linguistic knowledge is an autonomous component of SLA, distinct from the socially determined use of…

Discusses the active contribution a learner/user must make in using a dictionary and breaks the look-up process into seven main steps. (EKN)

This discussion of courseware design for computer-assisted language learning in English as a second language (ESL) highlights the role of randomization and creativity. A set of programs is described which are based on error analysis of students in the ESL program at Baruch College and developed around grammatical terms. (Author/LRW)

A study among college students investigated the effects on the developing knowledge system of the second-language learner of two different types of instruction: instruction as manipulation of output, and as structured or focused input processing. Results support the input-processing perspective and the salience of the role of input. (43…

The application of language processing skills between 2 languages with dissimilar morphosyntactic features was investigated with 72 American university students learning Japanese. Results suggest that learners' first- and second-language knowledge both play a significant role and that the linguistic knowledge and coding capability for text…