In many English language teaching contexts, listening activities resemble listening comprehension tests. Scholars have argued that this product-oriented approach is not particularly effective in helping learners improve their listening skills and have advocated for the inclusion of instruction that targets specific features of spoken language. The…

This article probes the extent to which postsecondary Spanish learners can substantively increase their knowledge of Spanish over a two-week period within a context of language and content instruction for four hours per day. The article considers the relationship of an immersion experience to upper-level literature and culture classes. Insights…

Using information from her pilot study at Brighton (England) Polytechnic and in-depth interviews at major British institutions teaching intensive foreign language courses to businessmen, the author discusses the meaning of "intensive" courses and their effectiveness, concluding that good intensive courses, properly selected, do provide…

Seven everyday topics are discussed in Basa Djarkarta, a dialect of Malay spoken in Djarkarta by over three million people. The purpose of the reading text, part of the basic course in Indonesian for official United States military personnel, is to acquaint students with this increasingly popular dialect in addition to Bahasa Indonesian, the…

Over a three-year period, from 1971 to 1973, a series of three experimental intensive language sessions was held in Malta for university professors and researchers who wanted to improve their knowledge of English as a second language. Each session consisted of from 20 to 30 participants and lasted 2 weeks. The general objectives of these courses…

A study was carried out of the 15 to 20% of immigrants enrolled in French second language classes in the "Centres d'Orientation et de Formation des Immigrants" (COFI) in Quebec, who learn little or no French after 8 weeks of an intensive course and repetitions of the course. This report presents the data gathered in the course of the…

This article reports on observations made during an intensive course in French organized by a business firm for its immigrant Portuguese workers. The principal aim of this project was to study course materials as they are actually used. Special attention was therefore paid to: (1) teacher discourse, which, although an essential component of…

The study described here sought to identify and define "learning behaviors" characteristic of those adult students who were highly successful in acquiring listening and speaking fluency in French in an intensive language training program. Data were collected from behavioral observation of students in the classroom, in-depth interviews with them,…

A study investigated links between writing apprehension, preferred writing processes, and academic achievement in 28 adult learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). One group was of varying language background in an intensive intermediate ESL class and the other consisted of francophone Canadians in an evening intermediate ESL writing class…

The adult students who are the subject of this report bring a different orientation with them to the study of language than does the typical adult immigrant or foreign student of English. This former group may be engaged in foreign language study in order to satisfy a college level language requirement or as part of a continuing education or…

The first section of this volume includes articles on cross-cultural teaching: "Mau Piailug's Navigation of Hokule'a from Hawaii to Tahiti," by David Lewis; "The New World Order and the Globalization of Social Science: Some Implications for Teaching Cross-Culturally," by Amarjit Singh; "Ponape: Cross-Cultural Contact,…