Maintains that aural comprehension does not develop automatically in FL teaching, but must and can be systematically trained and improved. The inner processes in aural comprehension are set forth. Suggestions are given for the actual teaching situation. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Compares competence of the "native hearer" with that of the foreign learner. Refers to research in auditory comprehension, particularly to the "motor theory of speech perception" and sequential psycholinguistics. Presents exercises on various components and on the complex development of auditory competence. (IFS/WGA)

A paper reviewing the psychology and physiology of listening, the importance of attention to the listening skill in the foreign language curriculum, and strategies intended to engender in the learner the ability to listen with comprehension. Many sample exercises and a lengthy bibliography are included. (AMH)

Rejects criticism of Kahl's position in his article on the Reading Comprehension Test (in this journal, issue no. 3, 1977), pointing out that the test is constructed according to the prescribed guidelines. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

A method is outlined for using works of Spanish literature at the intermediate level. This approach is illustrated, using three novels: "El Rapto" (Ayala), "El Tunel" (Sabato), and "Nada" (Laforet). A key passage is studied in depth, topics are assigned for extension of the content, and a composition is written. (CFM)

A discussion of the difficulties one experiences in understanding a foreign language in song. The difficulty comes from the rhyme and rhythm, and from the medium, the form of linguistic expression, itself. (AMH)

Advocates the use of dictation in teaching English as a second language. The steps in preparation, administering and correcting classroom dictation are outlined, and a method of organizing material on a language laboratory tape is suggested. In this procedure, students administer the dictation and correct it themselves. (CHK)

Think Aloud Porotocols were used to examine the reading comprehension strategies used by English as a Second Language (ESL) and native English-speaking college students with poor reading proficiency. Results involving students' time-on-task, mode of response, strategy use, and memory and comprehension are discussed. (CB)

Investigates the degree to which potential users of language reading proficiency scales acquire the standard for accurately grading reading passages of foreign-language learners. A five-day workshop helped users of the guidelines rank reading passages for levels of difficulty and rate them accurate according to the ACTFL scales. (Author/CB)

Reports an empirical study which compared recalls of two types of stories--one well-structured and the other deliberately not well-structured--by students of English as a second language. Results indicate that the quantity and temporal sequence of story recall are affected by differences in story structure. (SED)

Describes a study that explores whether less fluent non-native listeners attend more to syntactic than to semantic cues by testing three groups: native English-speakers and advanced and intermediate non-natives. Results show that semantically acceptable responses increased progressively for intermediate, advanced, and native groups, while…

Describes a study that explored the relationship between performance of a schematic concept formation task (SCF) and reading performance in students of English as a second language. Above average readers had significantly higher SCF ranks than below average readers. Offers suggestions for future research with SCF tasks. (SED)

Describes a study of the intelligibility of three dialects--standard English, New Yorkese, and Black English--for working-class adult English learners. Results showed that comprehension was significantly affected by dialect and that learner judgments of the speakers in terms of job status, friendliness, and appearance paralleled the…

Variation in three representative teacher input variables are compared across second language studies to derive viable hypotheses about instructional factors that contribute to second language development. The review indicates that, while the quality and quantity of comprehensible input are important, interactive pedagogical behaviors are also the…

Describes a study which investigated the intersentential sensitivity of the rational deletion cloze procedure. Eighty-four college-level students of German were divided into two sub-groups; one group completed a sequential cloze task, the other completed a scrambled cloze task. There were not significant differences in performance on the two…