Traditionally, classroom instruction has been viewed as a structured, deliberately sequenced process leading to predetermined goals within given time limits. However, classroom second language instruction appears to be less efficient than non-classroom language acquisition. The reason may lie in the distinction between linguistic input (all…

This Norsk language unit is intended to introduce high school students in the United States to modern spoken Norwegian and to Norwegian culture. The document is presented in 18 chapters. Topics include greetings, family, speaking Norwegian, the alphabet, travel in Norway, parts of the country, telling time, pronouns and articles, days of the week,…

This Swedish language unit is intended to introduce high school students in the United States to modern spoken Swedish and to Swedish culture. The document is presented in 18 chapters. Topics include greetings, family, daily life, conversational openers, the alphabet, ordering food in a restaurant, football, sports, skiing, politics, travels, and…

Examples of cross cultural misunderstandings are examined in this paper to show how cultural (contextual) meaning must be regarded as an integral feature of the overall semantic meaning of an utterance. The examples, taken from the Filipino dialect Tagalog, illustrate how ignorance of the cultural assumptions and attitudes associated with an…

This text contains 62 lessons in Hausa for the student of Hausa as a second Language. The principal emphasis of the lessons is in developing skills in the spoken language, and study is preferable with a native speaker of Hausa. The use of English is to be avoided except when absolutely necessary. Because of the attention given to oral skills, the…

The Soviet Union (USSR) is an immense multinational and multilingual country. At the time of the Revolution (1917) there were 150 national languages spoken in the USSR and 180 recognized linguistic groups, however, 70% of the total population of the USSR was illiterate and the literacy rate of the Middle Asia varied from 1% to 5%. After 1917, mass…

This text contains 65 lessons in Twi for the student of Twi as a second language. The principal emphasis of the lessons is in developing skills in the spoken language, and study is preferable with a native speaker of the language. The use of English is to be avoided except when absolutely necessary. Because of the attention given to oral skills,…

This paper exemplifies and presents the rationale for notional writing materials which are currently being developed for use with advanced level ESL students. The basic assumption of these materials is that effective writing demands a clear sense of why something is being written, and for whom it is being written. The materials are organized…

This paper points out the irrelevance of the sentence-based grammatical explanations found in most grammar reference books and ESL textbooks with regard to answering questions such as: (1) when and why do native speakers of English use the passive rather than the active voice, and (2) when and why does the native speaker of English use the present…

This reader is intended to accompany the Basic Course in Spoken Hindi. Following an outline of the Devanagari script, 20 lessons are presented. Each consists of a reading selection, several illustrative sentences in English and Hindi, and a series of questions. Most of the reading selections were adapted from the magazine "Bal-Bharati."…

The purpose of this research was to frame a hypothesis accounting for the observed behavior of particular children in a contact language area, in an attempt to understand their linguistic learning processes. The community involved was the township of Benque Viejo at the Guatemalan frontier, and the four informants, aged 10-13, spoke varying…

This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of conversation classes for learning a foreign language, and outlines three basic prerequisites for a successful conversation class: a small, homogeneous group, actual facts and ideas available for discussion, and a basic working vocabulary. (CLK)

Generalizations were formulated about the appropriate use of "excuse me" and "I'm sorry" and were used to explain the inappropriate use of these expressions by nonnative speakers. The use of these expressions in English as a second language texts is reviewed and suggestions for teaching are offered. (SW)

Russian word order is varied to suit the communicative requirements of the speaker. The present study tests the hypothesis that American students of Russian use word order differently from native speakers, using the same order for different communicative tasks. Study results support the hypothesis. (CHK)

A description of scientific language using three approaches: text, textualization, and discourse. Scientific discourse is analogous to universal deep structure; text, to surface variations in diverse languages; and textualization, to transformational processes. The relationship of the primary and secondary (scientific) cultures and their languages…