Many Language teacher associations (LTAs) are nonprofit organizations and thus rely heavily on volunteers to carry out their mission. A volunteer is a person who donates time and labor in service to others. In the case of LTAs, volunteers play key roles in governing the association, planning and realizing national conferences and local workshops,…

Working as a school psychologist in Mexico is possible, even with no previous experience speaking Spanish. After graduate school, the author knew there would be no better time to go. He deferred his student loan repayments, enrolled in Spanish classes at a public Mexican university, and later got a job as a school psychologist in a private,…

Human raters are normally involved in L2 performance assessment; as a result, rater behavior has been widely investigated to reduce rater effects on test scores and to provide validity arguments. Yet raters' cognition and use of rubrics in their actual rating have rarely been explored qualitatively in L2 speaking assessments. In this study three…

Retells the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears as a mnemonic device for learning German simple past verb forms. (EKN)

Three years ago, the author was a newly minted library media specialist, a bit green, but excited, enthusiastic, and ready to educate her middle school students. Once she learned that four out of the twenty-five sixth grade classes she was required to teach were bilingual "Dual Language Classes," the author was determined to use her background in…

Describes mnemonic devices which can be taught to second-language students to improve their learning including mnemonic reduction, visual word pictures, elaboration, and the keyword method. (BK)

Explores use of phrase 'taken for granted' including 'accept as true' and 'to fail to give subject's due.' Suggests latter usage has been noticed by few dictionary compilers, and EFL learners find it difficult to use and understand. (Author/BK)

Critically reviews some important attempts at needs analysis which have been made in the last 10 years and identifies strengths and weaknesses of needs analysis at the present stage of its development. Suggests that there is currently no objective method of analyzing learner needs. (EKN)

Discusses attitude and motivation as macro aspects of second-language learning and empathy and personality as the micro level. Believes learner's attitude, motivation, and personality are as important as intelligence but have nothing to do with capacity to learn. (Author/BK)

An English teacher tells what out-of-school activities should include, what results are to be obtained from them, and, in general, what place they should occupy in the English school system. (IFS/WGA)

To promote second language learning in young gifted children, the second language should be used consistently with designated people at certain times or in certain places. (CL)

Describes some applications of computer assisted learning to language teaching and suggests how the language teaching profession might best profit from them. (EKN)

Examines form and gender correspondence rules for Spanish and attempts to evaluate them for potential utility to the foreign language user on the basis of formal and psychological criteria relating to how rules might affect performance, with specific reference to the role of rules as defined in monitor model. (Author/BK)

Describes nature of insulting and techniques used to insult and presents a variety of areas and values from which insults are drawn. Briefly compares insulting terms using animal names in 10 different languages. Suggest insulting behavior is an area which, if better understood, will permit teachers to develop effective materials and recognize…

Discusses a general strategy for helping students acquire vocabulary, specifically how to master the vocabulary problem of "ser" and "estar." This is done by showing students, in interesting and recognizable ways, that English is sensitive to many of the same semantic differences of "ser" and "estar." (SED)