Discusses contemporary theory on the comprehension process in first language reading research and psychology. Examines beliefs, materials, and classroom behaviors which have been under recent discussion and applies the theory of comprehension--that comprehension is the process of relating incoming or new information to information already stored…

Presents an abbreviated version of a large scale investigation of second language attrition covering 50 years. Results yield benefits to teachers and students of foreign languages by leading to an understanding of how various procedures of acquisition affect the rate of loss and ultimately minimize the potential for later attrition. (SL)

This paper demonstrates how attention to developmental skills at every stage of language instruction enhances mastery of specific structural targets. A college German course in which a high degree of reading comprehension is the objective is used; Modified-Adjective Construction is the specific structural target. (CHK)

This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report examines the effect of "Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs" used in combination. The goal of "Instructional Conversations" is to help English language learners develop reading comprehension ability along with English language proficiency. "Instructional…

This study investigated the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) listening needs of college students in Taiwan, examining the ESL conversational and academic listening abilities required by college students and differences in listening needs between effective and ineffective ESL listeners. Study participants were 296 Taiwanese college freshmen. The…

This brief paper focuses on where the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) field has been and where it is going regarding the studying and teaching of listening comprehension. It reviews in some detail a few of the leading texts in the field: "Building Strategies" by Abbs and Freebairn (1979); "English Firsthand: Gold…

Paper presented to the staff of the English Language Branch--Defense Language Institute, Lockland Air Force Base, Lockland, Texas, 1973. (HW)

Presented at the 4th symposium of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, Quebec, Canada, May 18, 1973. (HW)

Abridged version of the original Swedish article. (DD)

The separate and interactive effects of three kinds of background knowledge (content area, context of materials presentation, and lexical items in the text) on reading comprehension were studied. Unlike native readers, nonnatives neither show significant effects of background knowledge nor appear to have a good sense of the text's difficulty. (MSE)

It was found that those who read English as a second language (ESL), like L1 individuals, use their knowledge of the world and contribute to information found in the text. However, ESL readers' contributions to the text may be marred by language interference, lack of background knowledge, faulty inferencing, and certain data- and…

Misinterpretations of the logical subject of infinitives by second language learners and prelingually deaf adults are compared with children's extension of the minimal distance principle during acquisition of infinitive complement structures and other research studies. Later acquisition of certain structure is explained in terms of the sentences'…

Presents study of Japanese- and German-speaking children who were tested on the Sentence Comprehension Test to investigate understanding of various English grammatical structures. Concludes that learning of English as a second language in a natural milieu seems to pass through stages similar to those exhibited by monolingual English children.…