This paper describes a pilot questionnaire study conducted with a class of Year 9 beginners in German in a comprehensive school, which set out to elicit information on learners' beliefs about speaking a foreign language, including their awareness of strategies. Findings revealed that most pupils showed knowledge of a range of cognitive, social and…

There are numerous publications on language learner strategies, and this bibliography of books is by no means exhaustive. They have been selected because they can be considered classics in the field and are easily available as this special issue of the "Language Learning Journal" goes to press. Though some of the books were written several decades…

The Languages Review Consultation Report recommends exploiting the potential of communications technology for the enhancement of curricular offerings. Newly developed instructional software is credited with opening doors to the cultures of young people while serving as an infinitely patient and supportive tutor. Thus, in the UK as in the US,…

Describes how the difficulty of German has been exaggerated and discusses certain supposed problems facing English speakers in the mastering of German vocabulary. The idea that technical vocabulary of native German origin presents a serious obstacle to native English speakers arises from an erroneous view of German as a "pure" Germanic…

Presents the advantages of using newspapers stored on CD-ROM as a resource for teaching current topics in civilization/culture and current affairs in the foreign- language class. Articles on CD-ROM can be used for vocabulary exercises and comprehension tests, and on-screen text can be altered as desired to create classroom activities. (four…

There is an acknowledged difficulty in demonstrating that the standard of school exams remains constant over the years. It is a source of debate every summer when exam results come out. There is some evidence that foreign language exams, and French in particular, have declined in standard since the 1980s, but empirical measures to demonstrate this…

This article considers the role of language learners in the global society and the extent to which interaction between different language communities can be regarded as possible without intercultural competence. It moves on to review the skills and competencies that can be taught to undergraduates in an attempt to enable them to engage more…

This article outlines some of the key issues involved in developing a programme of strategy training for learners of French, in listening and in writing. It highlights the theoretical perspectives and research findings on listening and writing that informed the selection of strategies to teach learners and thence the development of appropriate…

Cross-study comparison of the impact of strategy instruction (SI) is problematic because of differences in learning settings, the periods of time over which it is undertaken and the nature of the SI itself. Few studies indicate how the choice of skill areas and strategies has been tailored to meet the learners' age, stage and proficiency level,…

Learners' pronunciation errors when reading aloud in the L2 often suggest an inability to use the language's sound-symbol relationships, or grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs). UK teaching methodology has failed to provide systematic instruction in L2 phonological decoding, and there is an absence of research on the effectiveness of teaching…

Focuses on listening activities in the second-language classroom. After discussing problems related to listening and listening as a test versus listening as a learning experience, the article suggests that the teacher exploit what is known about the language and the world to make listening part of a learning whole as opposed to a distinct…

Defines continuous role playing in foreign language teaching suggestopedia (as practiced in Bulgaria); discusses how to achieve and sustain it; and considers its advantages, disadvantages and relevance. The article notes that the balancing role of the teacher is crucial to the techniques employed in the classroom dialogs. (10 references) (CK)

Argues that pupils in the second language classroom should be encouraged to respond to questions for personal information truthfully and that certain aspects of existing teaching practice encouraging the opposite should be scrutinized. Focuses on the objections to this premise and outlines reasons for seeking truthful student responses. (CK)

Discusses the experiences of a Malaysian student studying Spanish as a Second Language in an all-female Irish secondary school, focusing on common difficulties encountered by Asian students of Romance languages. It is argued that the teaching of Romance languages often unfairly presupposes a knowledge of Latin or French on the part of learners.…

Studied the marking characteristics of experienced markers of GCSE role-play to ascertain the extent of variation between the marks they award and to determine whether more intermarker consistency could be obtained with a small increase in time for thought before a particular mark is awarded. Results underlie the importance of reducing the…