Reading comprehension is an important means of increasing the learners' involvement. Texts should be used as stretches of real language rather than broken down into isolated units. In teaching foreign languages to non-language students, care should be taken in selecting, analyzing and presenting texts. (SC)

An approach to teaching grammar to university students in a reading comprehension course in English as a foreign language is presented. It is argued that the material and the method of teaching should be determined by the special aim of the course. (Author/RM)

Reports on experience with aural comprehension exercises in beginning English. Some children's stories, well known in England, were presented to the students, using three different approaches. At the end of the article, two of the stories are presented. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Ways of improving the present procedure for administering this test were determined in an experiment in which this procedure was compared with three others. (KM)

Discusses the superiority of information processing (IP) theory to stimulus-response theory, specifically in terms of language comprehension, language production, and the role of memory. (KM)

The article offers sample exercises which use dictation for the improvement of pronunciation, number recognition, grammar, vocabulary, and comprehension. Suggestions for giving the dictation and for correcting dictation scripts are also made. (DB)

Briefly reviews prior use of the thinking aloud method. Advantages of this method are contrasted to other techniques of the studying the research process. Suggestions include (1) choosing subjects and reading materials; (2) planning, preparing, and training subjects for thinking aloud sessions; and (3) recording, transcribing, and analyzing data.…

Examined the ability of audiovisual aids to facilitate second language acquisition. One group of Spanish students was taught with substantially more audiovisual aids than the control group. The audio-visual aids group performed significantly better on listening comprehension tests. No differences were found in use of structure. (Author/DJD)

Reports results of a study of the effects of rhetorical organization of different types of expository prose on intermediate English as a second language readers of different native languages. Certain English rhetorical patterns were easier to recall for nonnative readers in general but there were differences among the various native language…

Describes a study that attempts to define what features of foreigner talk (FT) aid learner comprehension. Features investigated were: (1) a reduced rate of delivery, and (2) features of grammatical FT such as synonymy, hyperonomy, parallel syntactic structures, and paraphrase. Measures showed that the effect of reduced rates of delivery was…

Reviews the theories which assert the necessity for prolonged intensive listening without expectations of production for some time in language teaching. Asserts that comprehension and production are indissoluble partners in the two-way process of communicative interaction and that teacher-directed and dominated classrooms are not interactive…

Describes a study of the ability of English as a second language students to read technical instructions. The students were asked to set a digital alarm clock using the manufacturer's instructions. The results indicate that a science background is a greater facilitator of efficient completion than very good knowledge of English. (SED)

Suggests an approach to teaching reading skills in German or other foreign languages. The student is encouraged to read a passage and attempt to decipher vocabulary for himself and to develop positive reading habits to be used in other reading exercises. (CHK)