Errors are essential for emergent literacy learning because they reveal the gaps in young children's knowledge. The ways in which teachers respond to these errors can have important implications for children's knowledge building; yet, there is limited information for teachers about how to effectively respond to children's errors in emergent…

Speech and language development in children are crucial for ensuring effective skills in their long-term learning ability. A child's vocabulary size at the time of entry into kindergarten is an early indicator of their learning ability to read and potential long-term success in school. The preschool classroom is thus a promising venue for…

From a constructivist perspective on learning, mistakes are seen as natural elements of learning processes. A supportive and constructive way of dealing with student mistakes has shown to affect students' individual motivation and learning performances in a favorable way. In classroom settings, however, making mistakes is not just a personal but…

A longitudinal case study examining the learning of English (focusing on grammatical morphemes) by a Tunisian adolescent speaker of Arabic and French showed that the second language learner relies on his prior linguistic knowledge to facilitate new learning and that second language learning like first language acquisition is a creative process.…

Instructor attitudes toward students with non-native accents were examined in a study of 55 student teachers attending a small, private liberal arts college in the San Francisco (California) area. A review of the literature included information on error analysis, communication, general attitudes, instructor attitudes, and classroom behavior and…

This paper discusses the factors that either facilitate or inhibit vocabulary learning and suggests practical classroom techniques for beginning and more advanced students. Vocabulary acquisition is related to the learning situation and to the form, meaning, and grammatical role of the new item in the target language. The focus of the teaching…

Results of a microanalysis of 3,003 oral reading errors by 116 second and third graders support the idea that the actions of students and teachers during error episodes are situated in social contexts, emerging in response to a dynamic interplay of factors that converge at particular moments. (SLD)

Compares the effectiveness of Nihongo-CALI (Japanese Computer Assisted Language Instruction) with non-CALI workbook instruction. Findings reveal that given the same grammar notes and exercises, ongoing intelligent computer feedback is more effective than simple workbook answer sheets for developing learners' grammatical skill in producing Japanese…

Issues related to school instruction in students' heritage or ancestral language are discussed, particularly in regard to dialect-speaking children or children with some degree of competence in the language. The first chapter considers similarities and differences between second language instruction and heritage language education. The findings on…

Reports on a multivariate study that examined the contribution of two independent variables--cognitive/academic proficiency in first language and attitudes and motivation toward English as a foreign language--on success in English as a foreign language in culturally different learners. (27 references) (Author/OD)

Papers on language processing, culture, and language learning and teaching include: "A Theory of Intelligence as Semiosis: With a Couple of Comments on Interlanguage Development" (John W. Oller, Jr.); "Along the Way: Interlanguage Systems in Second Language Acquisition" (Larry Selinker); "Strategy and Tactics in Second Language Acquisition"…

The 76 case studies presented here describe how teachers of English as a second language (ESL) respond to problems they encounter in teaching. Each case study describes the context in which the teacher is working, the problem, and the teacher's response. Following each case study is a brief commentary by a teacher educator who reflects that type…