The concept of communicative competence, which has recently become so influential in language teaching, has resulted in a new emphasis on the nature of interaction. Questions concerning the communicative needs of language learners are raised with regard to the types of interaction they will participate in, the roles they will have, and the…

This issue contains two articles in Spanish and three in English on the following topics: the practical presentation of English for Special Purposes (ESP) materials in science programs at the National University of Trujillo, "notional syllabus" and "discourse analysis" in relation to ESP materials, extra-linguistic principles in explaining…

This collection of articles on second language learning includes: "Action, langage et discours. Les fondements d'une psychologie du langage" ("Action, Language, and Discourse. Foundations of a Psychology of Language") (Jean-Paul Bronckart); "Contextes socio-culturels et appropriation des languages secondes: l'apprentissage en milieu social et la…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the use of connectives by learners of English as a foreign language and their length of study. Eighteen writing samples were collected, six from learners with 2 years of study of English and 12 from learners with 3 years of study. Results found that students' length of study was…

This collection of papers falls into three categories: stylistics, discourse analysis, and language pedagogy. The papers are: "Feedback on Writing: Attitudes and Uptake" (Kenneth Anderson, Cathy Benson, and Tony Lynch); "An Alternative View of 'Like': Its Grammaticalisation in Conversational American English and Beyond" (Isabelle Buchstaller);…

The question of whether the English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classroom is an environment that promotes input, feedback, and the production of output that is necessary for successful second language learning is addressed. Such questions have arisen within the context of a growing emphasis on communicative activities and student-to-student…

This study examined the talk of 20 university level learners of Mandarin as a Second Language in three instructional modes: teacher-led (TL), unstructured group work (UGW), and structured group work using a cooperative learning technique (SGW), in this case, Jigsaw. Statistical analyses showed that more learner talk (in terms of turns and c-units)…

Discusses the impact of computer networking on foreign language teaching and focuses on the competing claims made regarding the value of network-based language learning activity. A description of how internet-based activities operate in the classroom is included. (24 references) (Author/CK)

Discusses the use of Teacher's Partner, a multimedia tool that assists the foreign language teacher by presenting communicative exchanges among native speakers. Year-long research analyzing classroom interaction patterns showed increased use of communicative discourse by teacher and students in those class periods when the Teacher's Partner was…

In this special issue on technology in language teaching, major articles include: "Sociocultural Aspects of Second Language Acquisition" (David Nunan); "The Need for Multi-Media ESL Teaching Methods: A Psychological Investigation into Learning Styles" (Don W. Hinkelman, Jay M. Pysock); "Can Japanese Children Learn…

A study investigated the communication strategies used by students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in electronic mail interactions with native speakers of English. Subjects were 22 university students in Taiwan paired with a like number of pre-service EFL teacher trainees in the United States. The discourse of 87 e-mail entries by the…

Two related studies investigated (1) the extent to which native language input to five Japanese children was varied based on the children's age, and (2) the effectiveness of adult Japanese second language input to a three-year-old American child during a one-month period in Japan. In the first study, interactions of adult-child dyads were compared…

This issue presents works in progress by students and professors at the University of Pennsylvania. Papers are generally based on research conducted for courses offered in the Language in Education Division of the Graduate School of Education. This issue contains the following papers: "Do Second Language Learners Need Negotiation?"…

Presented is a collection of 14 conference papers on various aspects of child language acquisition. Papers and authors include: "Language and Psychological Development" (Jean Berko Gleason); "Regression in the Phonological Development of Two Children" (Ken M. Bleile, J. Bruce Tomblin); "Children's Acquisition of the…

This article discusses the incompatibility between the goal of communicative competence (defined more narrowly as minimal approximative communicative competence) and current practices of syllabus design, and suggests more relevant alternatives. Foreign language instruction is still dominated by the teaching of language structure for its own sake,…