This article discusses the relationship between theory and methodology in qualitative research, arguing that theory informs the questions that researchers ask, the assumptions they make, and the approaches they use. It outlines the six principles of critical research theory and discusses its application to the language learning of immigrant women…

Replicates R. P. Leow's 1993 study on the effects of simplification, type of linguistic item, and second/foreign language experience on learners' intake of linguistic items contained in written output. Results on the type of linguistic item underscore the need for research to consider seriously the role of modality while addressing cognitive…

The overall role played by hypercorrection in the literature on language change, language variation, and second language acquisition is reviewed. The paper argues that hypercorrection is not a completely unified phenomenon, citing an empirical study showing that quantitative methods applied to qualitative hypercorrection necessarily involve…

Foreign Language across the Curriculum (FLAC), a practice that modifies non-FL liberal arts courses to include an FL reading component, is described as implemented at two private colleges. It is concluded that FLAC offers only a token FL benefit to most students. (33 references) (LB)

Examines the extent to which material from a donor language (Embedded Language or EL) appearing in a recipient language (Matrix Language) shows internal differentiation. It is suggested that models of structural aspects of codeswitching must provide a unified account for all EL material in codeswitching utterances. (Author/LB)

An experiment is described in which learners listened to two radio broadcasts in Spanish, then reported on their strategies, comprehension, learning, level of confidence, and affective response to the input. Elements that the learners had in common are cited, as well as some that seem idiosyncratic. (24 references) (Author/LB)

The relative effects of various types of negative feedback on the acquisition of the English dative alternation by 100 adult Spanish-speaking learners of English as a Second Language were investigated. Results suggest that adult learners can and do use feedback to learn specific and abstract linguistic generalizations. (75 references) (Author/LB)

Some 147 teaching assistants responded to the Survey of First Year Graduate Teaching Assistants in French, part of which focused on handling typical student questions on grammar. Analysis suggests that TAs do not conceptualize language according to the model of communicative competence proposed by Canale and Swain. (36 references) (LB)

Argues that Canagarajah's ethnographic study of a Sri Lankan university classroom is of limited value because of the choice of site, subjects, and textbook. Canagarajah responds by rebutting these criticisms and asserting that his study chose to show local conditions as they existed. (Contains 16 references.) (MDM)

This paper examined the assessment of second-language proficiency in 157 research articles published in 5 language journals from 1988 through 1992, finding 4 major conventions for the assessment of language proficiency: (1) impressionistic judgment; (2) institutional status; (3) in-house measures; and (4) standardized test scores. (64 references)…

Terrell's Natural Approach to second-language learning is examined in terms of the degree of acceptance or rejection of his pedagogic views since they were first presented in 1977. Among the issues discussed are his attitudes toward grammar, error correction, and the evolution of educational materials and classroom practices. (205 references)…

Presents key aspects of the whole-language perspective; describes examples of whole-language principles in practice in elementary, secondary and adult English-as-a-Second-Language programs; and reviews recent whole-language research on second-language development. (56 references) (VWL)

The inverted-U model, facilitating and debilitating anxiety and state trait anxiety, is examined along with the relationship of these concepts to second-language learning, including English as a Second or Foreign Language. Research in the area of foreign-language classroom anxiety is also noted. (35 references) (LB)

Using a type-case analytic approach, this study investigates the teaching/learning process in an intermediate-level college Spanish conversation course to answer questions about the development of communicative competence. It demonstrates constraints and limitations and suggests the need to reconceptualize theoretical and methodological approaches…

A pilot experiment examined ambiguity in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learning by graduate and undergraduate students. The findings revealed that most ESL speakers have greatest difficulty in understanding sentences with derived-structure ambiguity. Underlying-structure ambiguity was the next most difficult to understand, followed by lexical…