Communicative self-confidence and motivation play a crucial role in learning any language, including English. The absence of these elements significantly impacts students' ability to express themselves naturally and fluently. In Spain, language immersion programs seek to promote the simultaneous learning of language skills in a communicative…

Few studies have examined willingness to communicate (WtC) changes resulting from short-term intensive immersion programmes. This study investigated the antecedents to and changes in WtC during one such programme held at a Macau university. The programme required students to reside on campus and participate in extensive task-based communicative…

Assesses the effect of a program of communicative language teaching on foreign-language (FL) acquisition in the United States. The article describes the frustration of FL teachers and students at students' difficulty in reaching senior-level status and suggests that colleges require FL majors to spend a year in an immersion program in countries…

Affirms the advantages to the child of early immersion second language learning programs. The second language proficiency of English-speaking Canadian students who received all instruction in French and English-speaking American children who received all instruction in Spanish surpassed that of students in more traditional language programs. (PMJ)

This study explores the role of the language learning situation by comparing the speech of children in an immersion program, children learning a second language in a natural setting, and native French children. Three groups of children participated in the study: (1) 39 children (Grades K, 1, 3, 5) in a French immersion program in the U.S.; (2) 13…

The British Columbia French Speaking Test, administered to grade 3 immersion students, measured their speaking skills through a story- retelling and group discussion task. When 110 immersion children were compared to 25 Francophone children, results indicated that the immersion children were comparable to the francophones in communicative skills…

This paper presents historical information about language teaching methods and focuses on "formal" and "functional" strategies of teaching and learning. Particular attention is directed toward the immersion type of education. A table that lists developments in language teaching theory from 1840-1977 is presented. A table that summarizes…

This book is a comprehensive treatment of the literature on second language acquisition in childhood, viewed in terms of contemporary process models. After a general introduction on bilingualism in society, six major topics are considered: first-language acquistion, language acquisition and learning in childhood and adulthood, simultaneous…