Describes a series of interviews with Japanese speakers of English-as-a-second-language focusing on their uses of English and their life-style characteristics outside Japan. Results support current research indicating that successful language learners apply specific strategies to the task of learning. (Author/DJD)

Study of the probabilistic nature of processing strategies in Dutch/English bilinguals indicated that sentence interpretation in English generally paralleled that in Dutch, with divergence toward similarity in performance by English monolinguals. (Author/CB)

Analysis of language research and observation of two language classes suggest that, when teachers devote efforts to promoting students' encounters with and use of natural language, students will have the opportunity not only to learn about language, but also to arrive at proficiency in its use. (CB)

Considers the extent to which a testing task can be made authentic so that it constitutes an example of normal and natural language behavior on the part of both examiner and candidate. Also considers the effects on test validity and the correct interpretation of test results if a test cannot be made authentic. (SED)

Test results for final-year French students in Canadian universities show they have not mastered the gender of some of the most frequent French nouns. Two recommendations are to continue to seek simplification of the learning of gender and to require students to use the full range of syntactic transformations. (MSE)

The conventions of TV comedy, particularly in the two-man comedy team, have a role to play in the teaching of English as a foreign language. They offer situations where the normal language is both natural and repetitive, and where emotional states common to interpersonal communication can be exemplified. (Author/CFM)

The intermediate competence of adult second language learners is qualitatively different from native speaker competence. Learning strategies are constants in the diachronic modifications of learner competence. A study of the acquisition of interrogatives in French reveals limited strategies and the heterogeneity of linguistic models needed to…

This article reports on the first four colloquia at Neuchatel. Research in the areas of discourse analysis, the discovery of interpretive processes, and communicative competence should shape the evolution of second language teaching. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/CLK)

This paper explores the auxiliary systems of English and German and the use of the auxiliary verbs in various complex predicate structures in the two languages. It aims at alleviating two types of problems in learning German involving governing patterns and ordering problems in clauses. (CHK)

This article discusses the influence of cultural factors on language, particularly in the area of lexicon, and is intended for students of Spanish as a second language. (Text is in Spanish.) (CLK)

Filled with examples of French slang and colloquialisms, this article notes the importance of learning such everyday language to speak French correctly. (CHK)

Outlines a unit intended for self-instruction at the beginning level of French. The focus is on particular aspects of French culture. (CLK)

Discusses the job situation as it is at the present time for speakers of Russian and suggests ways in which increased trade activity between the United States and the Soviet Union will result in more job opportunities in the future. (Author/CLK)

Dual immersion classrooms combine students who speak a non-English language (in this case Spanish) with English speaking students learning the native language of the nonnative English speaking students. This case study recorded the output of Spanish first language (L1) and second language (L2) fifth graders over 5 months of Spanish language…

One story that needs to be told in composition classes K-16 is the story of language--the "composition" class or the English class might be the only setting for most students to learn the broader picture of how language is used throughout the world in real life. To become proficient writers/speakers, students must comprehend the complex…