Knowledge of the strategies used by English as a foreign language (EFL) or second language (ESL) readers can help instructors teach these techniques and thereby enhance their students' reading comprehension. The present study compared three categories of reading comprehension strategies (metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective) to determine…

This article reports on a crosslinguistic comparative study of the processing of Japanese relative clauses (RCs) by Chinese-, Sinhalese-, Vietnamese-, Thai-, and Indonesian-speaking second language (L2) learners. A robust finding in studies on the acquisition of RCs in L2 English and other European languages is that subject-gap RCs are easier than…

Twenty-seven middle school English learners participated in a study to determine the efficacy of the Think-Aloud Strategy, one of several metacognitive strategies created to help students strategically negotiate appropriate meaning from text. Students were grouped by level of English-language proficiency and were administered a reading…

This column from the English Learners department outlines a framework for robust literacy instruction for English learners--instruction that addresses the cognitive challenges of acquiring literacy, accounts for English learners' special language needs and abilities, and includes their unique cultural experiences. The framework consists of four…

This guide provides descriptions of standards for assessing students' skills in French as a second language, accompanied by samples of student work in the four language skills (listening comprehension, reading comprehension, writing, and speaking) at each of nine competency levels. An introductory section discusses basic principles in reporting…

A study investigated the role of comprehension of meaningful language input in young adults' second language learning, focusing on: (1) what kinds of measurement instruments and procedures can be used in tracking student gains in specific aspects of target language proficiency; (2) development of a reliable self-report scale capturing different…

Conditions under which using computers can help improve the study of foreign languages are discussed. Attention is limited to a consideration of a language course that aims at giving students a high level of accuracy in listening comprehension, oral expression, reading comprehension, and written expression. The following questions are addressed:…

This investigation examined the acquisition of five complex English syntactic structures by Egyptian and Israeli adult learners at different levels of proficiency. Carol Chomsky's methodology, as adapted by d'Anglejan and Tucker, served to assess comprehension of these structures. The responses of the Egyptians and Israelis, which were similar to…

Compares the effectiveness of Nihongo-CALI (Japanese Computer Assisted Language Instruction) with non-CALI workbook instruction. Findings reveal that given the same grammar notes and exercises, ongoing intelligent computer feedback is more effective than simple workbook answer sheets for developing learners' grammatical skill in producing Japanese…

This Spanish lesson consists of a text concerning a wedding whose preparations were chaotic, followed by exercises for learning vocabulary and testing comprehension. (Text is in Spanish.) (CHK)

A study compared the relative values of listen-respond and listen-respond-compare language laboratory methods. College-level language students were examined and it was determined that the listen-respond method caused greater comprehension gain. Student recording was found ineffective for first-year students, and may be a definite hindrance. (CHK)

By "reading," we mean the recognition and synthesis of sound groups in a language, from letters, groups of letters and punctuation marks; we understand in this connection the grasping of the morphological system of written language. Reading requires the discovery of the meaning of what is written, and the recognition of the intentions of the…

A study investigated the effect of pausing, a component of speech speed, on the listening comprehension of second language learners. Groups of subjects at two ability levels listened to taped versions of two brief lectures recorded with four different combinations of speed and pausing conditions. Comprehension was measured by means of cloze tests…

A study of the effect of function words on reading comprehension had as subjects 99 college students of English as a second language (ESL) divided into four groups. The treatment was the reading of a set of passages, written in four versions. In version 1 all function words were deleted; in version 2 function words with semantic weight were…

An experiment is reported which was designed to determine whether the beginning student's ability to discriminate the sounds of Spanish can be increased by specific training which supplements the current texts. Training to improve discrimination included analytical material from the text and lectures, as well as listening exercises. (Author/RM)