Discusses a technique for teaching the usage of the present perfect tense to students of English as a second language. (CFM)

It is argued that acculturation, anomie, social distance, and perceived social distance rather than biological factors define a critical period independent of the age of the learner for second language acquisition. Suggestions for planning instructional strategies and selecting materials based on this hypothesis are given. (PMJ)

Proposes concept of the Teacher Value System as explanation for the phenomenon of students in foreign language classroom producing nonsensical utterances. Argues that these statements are product of particular patterns of teacher behavior. Believes this explanation affords insight into some prerequisites for communicative teaching. (Author/BK)

Discusses the important role of background knowledge in a psycholinguistic model of EFL/ESL reading and demonstrates the relevance of schema-theoretic views of reading to the teaching of reading to EFL/ESL students. Also discusses classroom implications of the schema-theoretic view and suggests techniques for bringing about reader-centered EFL/ESL…

In a survey, 130 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students were asked to describe the meanings of English tenses in terms of time concepts used in ESL grammar texts. Results suggest that grammar teaching utilizing descriptions of time accepted in English-speaking communities to explain usages and meanings of English tenses can limit learner…

A story is told of how inner-city youth organizations use dramas that young people write, cast, and direct to enable them to retain their first language or dialect while gaining standard English and preparing for job entry. The story ends with implications for the language classroom. (seven references) (Author/LB)

Suggests that for improving syntactic fluency and the overall quality of compositions, exercises should be based on generative rhetoric. These exercises in which students supply the content of the sentence from a list of suggested structures are superior to sentence-combining exercises that provide the student with all the information. (PMJ)

This article affirms the pedagogical validity of using radio commercials in English as second language listening classes and offers suggestions on how to introduce this type of material. (CFM)

Illustrates a stategy for teaching vocabulary, using a computer-held corpus of native speakers' contextualized utterances of each word. The purpose is for the learner to develop lexical competence, that is, the ability to use a word syntactically, semantically, and pragmatically. Verbs are the focus of these materials although other parts of…

Asserts that common techniques for the teaching of question formation disregard the speaker's purpose and the situation. Moreover, they are frequently based on transforming written sentences, which does not facilitate oral communication. Suggests criteria for judging question-teaching techniques and provides samples of "good"…

In a study of peer response activities in second-language writing, two questions were investigated: whether students give good advice to their peers and what differences exist between student and teacher comments. Examination of 30 papers from 3 writing classes suggests that teacher and peer responses serve important and complementary functions.…

This paper describes a formal communication game which requires the students to process other players' utterances for implicit meaning before responding. The game can be adapted for content and difficulty level. Students choose between two alternatives on dimensions such as structure and style. Sample games are included. (SW)

Examines the learning strategies successful language learners employ and suggests that teachers can help their less successful students by paying more attention to learner strategies already seen as productive. (PMP)

Discusses the active contribution a learner/user must make in using a dictionary and breaks the look-up process into seven main steps. (EKN)

Suggests and gives examples of how a few advanced skills and concepts are related to successful reading and writing and can be introduced in low-level ESL classes. Examples include generality-specificity distinction, relevance-irrelevance distinction, underlining and making notes, paraphrasing, and summarizing. This conceptually integrated…