This study examined interest in and attitudes toward learning English among first-year nursing students at the Japanese Red Cross Junior College of Akita who participated in the Summer English Homestay Program at Monash University, Australia. The study was intended to learn about students' past and present activities related to English and to…

Unsuccessful college education often turns our students into book haters who will stop reading as soon as they graduate. The idea of literature circles embraces the concept of "reading for fun" and is intended to create more independent readers and book addicts who will continuously read for the rest of their lives. Pioneers in literacy…

A program designed to improve the oral second language skills of high school students in second-year Spanish is reported. Initial analysis attributed the students' low level of oral Spanish skills to lack of motivation and insufficient practice of oral language. Three major interventions were implemented: incorporation of more oral practice of…

This document evaluates the effectiveness of the Los Angeles Unified School District's Academic English Mastery Program, a program designed to serve students whose lack of proficiency in standard American English is an impediment to academic performance. This study used random sampling, experimental and control groups, and three principle data…

A 50-item, five-point Likert scale inventory was designed to be a valid and reliable group-administered instrument to provide a profile of the declarative knowledge of electronic mail (e-mail) strategies used by students learning English as a second language (ESL) or foreign language (EFL). The inventory was developed primarily for voluntary use…

This article reports on an investigation into the attributions of success and perceived areas of strength and weakness of adult learners of English as a foreign language in the Department of Continuing Education at Minsk State Linguistic University, Belarus. The students attributed their limited progress in learning the foreign language mainly to…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the writing processes of second language (L2) writers, specifically examining the writing strategies of three Chinese post-graduate students in an Australian higher education institution. The study was prompted by the paucity of second language writing strategies of Chinese students in an authentic…

Research in second language acquisition and reading in particular indicate that certain literacy skills transfer across languages. This study examines the reading strategies used by advanced Korean and Chinese ESL learners. Particular attention is devoted to how word recognition and processing skills developed in learners' native languages (L1)…

Using various approaches to identify English language learners, several Pacific Region jurisdictions are developing English language proficiency standards and assessments aligned with those standards. Others are working on content standards, including language arts, and have expressed interest in developing English language proficiency standards…

Many states currently offer bilingual certification or endorsement, encouraging both practicing teachers and prospective teachers to complete their requirements necessary to add this certification on to their regular teaching license. Although these requirements routinely include courses in bilingual education, the "second" language…

This paper reports on a study done with Anglos and Hispanics in Texas, focusing on the pending English Only legislation and their awareness of and attitudes towards it and what biases these attitudes were based upon. A 1-page, 2-sided, questionnaire was distributed to 328 Anglo and Hispanic subjects in a predominantly Hispanic city. Forty-seven…

The report summarizes a survey of 600 Hispanic parents, each with one or more children in grades 1-12, designed to document parents' experiences with school programs for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students and to ascertain their attitudes about the programs' goals and practices. Parents drawn from five metropolitan areas with large Hispanic…

A study investigated beliefs about language learning held by American adult students of Arabic studying in two programs, one in Morocco and one in Yemen, and compared them with beliefs held by the teachers. Subjects were 44 students and 10 teachers from the Morocco program and 27 students and 7 teachers from the Yemen program. Subjects were…

A study of the attitudes and practices in multinational corporations concerning second language and intercultural skills as criteria for employment of international managers consisted of three elements: (1) a survey of corporations; (2) followup interviews with respondents and with commercial language schools and cross-cultural training…

This article gives guidelines for the evaluation of foreign language departments that should lead to an upgrading of the profession. (CFM)