This volume is both a state-of-the-art display of current thinking on second language development as a complex system. It is also a tribute to Diane Larsen-Freeman for her decades of intellectual leadership in the academic disciplines of applied linguistics and second language acquisition. The chapters therein range from theoretical expositions to…

Teaching English language learners has long presented challenges for teachers tasked with bringing these students to a level of language comprehension comparable to that of native speakers. These challenges and issues can lead to difficulty comprehending core academic topics for those learning the English language. "Optimizing Elementary…

A report is made on the use of foreign language for spontaneous communication in an elementary language class. Four correction-free, peer communicative/interaction activities are outlined according to procedures, objectives, and evaluations. (Author/RM)

A Language Learning Experience course is described that includes authentic classroom context, hands-on participation, observation, and reflection/discussion, as well as a new dimension: focus on the language learners and their responses. As part of teacher education, it goes beyond the traditional diary studies. (Contains 18 references.) (LB)

In a study of learners' levels of comfort with language activity types allowing differing degrees of interaction, 110 first-year college students of French, Spanish, and Italian were surveyed at a university and community college. Results suggest the value of activities facilitative of negotiated interaction. The questionnaire is appended. (10…

A discussion of research on naturalistic second language acquisition (SLA) focuses on its relationship to the foreign language classroom context. It is argued that to attempt to relate natural SLA to classroom foreign language learning (FLL), a coherent and consistent theoretical framework is needed. The Cognitive-Interactionist Model is developed…

This article describes how second language learners become more autonomous in the language learning process, how the cooperative learning strategy helps improve the learning outcome, and how second language learners apply learning strategies to learning tasks both in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Three activities were offered:…

A discussion of classroom research on language teaching looks at what researchers have learned so far from attempts to study what happens in the language classroom. The discussion is based on the idea that it is not the currency of instructional method used that matters most, but rather a fuller understanding of classroom interaction. The first…

Essays on second language teaching focuses on how the kinds of tasks performed by the learner relate to language output. "Choosing and Using Communication Tasks for Second Language Instruction" (Teresa Pica, Ruth Kanagy, Joseph Falodun) contains a taxonomy of communication task types, based on the concepts of goal and activity,…

This manual was developed, as a result of a state policy establishing high school graduation requirements for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students, to provide teachers with resources for improving instruction of the LEP population. The manual describes classroom strategies based on current theory and research on second language acquisition.…

A discussion linking theory and practice in second language instruction focuses on ways of providing opportunities for meaningful interaction in language classrooms. The first part lays a theoretical foundation, looking at: the variety and evolution of instructional approaches from grammar-based to communicative; the classroom as environment for…