Critiques traditional philosophical approaches to cognition and reality and compares them with contemporary notions derived from them. A position based on work of Crozier, Cazeneuve, and MacLuhan is argued for the key place of culture in explicating the universe of signs and in content and methodology of second language instruction. (AMH)

Investigates adult second language learners' processing of English syntactically ambiguous sentences in which a prepositional phrase is interpreted as either a noun phrase or verb phrase attachment. Results reveal lexical, syntactic, prosodic, and contextual constraints on processing ambiguous sentences. (87 references) (Author/CK)

Explores English-as-a-Second-Language students' introspective accounts of perceived underlying second language production processes for the purpose of discovering folk models that may impact on pedagogy. Findings reveal that the pervasive image emerging is a translation schema with a subcomponent of conscious grammar rule application. (19…

Summarizes the findings of a project that investigated the use of learning strategies by foreign language students and their teachers, and suggests classroom applications for learning strategy instruction. The project identified the differences in strategy use among effective and ineffective language learners and the ways in which teachers could…

Examines theoretical foundations and practical application of Translation Quality Assessment (TQA), particularly in translator training. Several approaches to translation are considered, especially the "functional" and "relevance" approaches. The need for TQA, several popular views on translation quality, and the issue of…

A discussion of teacher talk, particularly in the context of language immersion, looks at its nature, content, and form. A study reported here indicates the importance of discourse modification by the teacher and points up the need for further research on the effects of teacher talk on second-language learning. (Contains 23 references.)…

Advanced learners' processing of linguistic knowledge in connection with a translation task from Danish into English is discussed. The focus of the discussion is on learners' use of different types of linguistic knowledge (the degree to which they use this linguistic knowledge and the form in which it is represented). The following issues are…

Most advanced second language (L2) learners find continued vocabulary growth to be one of the most difficult areas in second language learning, and vocabulary acquisition has not received little attention by researchers. As a result, no unified theory of L2 vocabulary acquisition exists, although the literature contains ample advice on how to…

A "dynamic priority" theory of Chinese second language instruction is outlined and discussed. The theory focuses on five aspects of language instruction: spoken vs. written language; universality vs. particularity; cultural vs. linguistic tasks; performance vs. competence; and proficiency vs. achievement. A dynamic relationship is seen between the…

Second language acquisition (SLA) research is examined in terms of what might be used in the planning, design, and implementation of language courses. A conception of language and the communicative use of language that is appropriate for formal language teaching and learning is discussed, and different conditions are described under which second…

A two-volume resource book addresses the particular needs of English as a Second Language (ESL), English language center, and transitional skills teachers. The volumes are designed to help meet the language and educational needs of ESL students in British Columbia. Volume II includes a large section of resources useful for integrating language and…

Instructional models for foreign language reading and listening comprehension are outlined and synthesized, and an instructional procedure based on immediate recall, a standardized method for assessing first-language comprehension, is proposed. First, the interrelated processes of reading and listening comprehension, as currently defined in the…

An experiment combining listening comprehension training and error analysis was conducted with students at the English Language Institute, Queens College, the City University of New York. The purpose of the study was to investigate how to take learners who were primarily dependent on perceptive skills for comprehension and widen their…

The position this paper assumes views vocabulary not as single words but as phrases, sentences, and sometimes entire segments of discourse that act as single words. This view of vocabulary would be helpful in: (1) bringing the vocabulary aspect of instruction in English as a second language (ESL) closer to current research in language performance,…

Discusses the theoretical basis, implementation, and pedagogical considerations of CALLE (Computer-Aided Language Learning Environment), a dialogue-based beginning Spanish language instruction system. CALLE uses Lexical Functional Grammar Theory to analyze errors in student input. Sample screen is shown. (Author/LMO)