Explores use of reading comprehension instruction to develop oral language in language-minority students. Outlines six teachable abilities that could be developed in students--including determination of important and unimportant aspects of text. Lists ten instructional suggestions that draw on the primary language, cognitive strengths, and social…

Cognitive and affective responses to one authentic and three edited texts were examined with four levels of university-level learners of Spanish. Results indicated that all students comprehended significantly more from the authentic passage than from the edited ones and also responded more favorably to the authentic passages. (Contains 47…

Examination of several interrelated topics on postage stamps, including their multiple functions and significance as semiotic artifacts, precedes suggestions for incorporating them into the Italian language curriculum in such activities as reading, writing, speaking, listening, and cultural understanding. (CB)

To address theoretical claims for the importance of negotiated interaction to the comprehension of second language (L2) input, different classroom interactional behaviors of L2 learners were compared. Results indicated that direct participation in negotiation was most effective in facilitating comprehension of less-advanced students; however, this…

The usefulness of bilingual dictionaries for vocabulary learning was examined with 293 Japanese university students studying English as a foreign language. Students who used a dictionary during reading scored significantly better on a vocabulary test than those who did not, but there was evidence for differential item functioning. (25 references)…

Conducted a read-and-recall procedure with 40 individuals in Japanese courses, 20 native readers of Japanese, and 16 native readers of English. First language readers recalled high coherence texts (HCTs) better than low coherence texts. Advanced L2 readers showed a similar advantage for HCTs in their second reading. Texts used in the study are…

Some aural activities are described that can help language students with their listening comprehension. They include dictation, a "who am I?" exercise, sketch-drawing, chart completion, a comparison exercise, and a flow diagram. (LB)

Analysis of college Spanish students' processing of information under different conditions suggested that learners, and particularly early-stage learners, have great difficulty in attending to both form and content. (22 references) (Author/CB)

Story grammar is a recent area of research related to an interactive conceptualization of reading. A study of 70 sixth-grade students studying English as a foreign language (EFL) suggests that direct instruction in story grammar helps students abstract a story's episodic sequence and metastructure. Sample texts are appended. (Contains 21…

Explored how one skilled Spanish-as-a-foreign-language student in a third-year level class performed reading-to-write tasks. Case Study research methodology was used to investigate the process of reading-to-write within an academic language setting. Data were collected using stimulated-recall interviews. (Author/VWL)

A crucial component of academic lectures is the use of chunks, phrases, and body language, and their role in facilitating understanding. This article examines the function and context of this component in the discourse of academic lectures. (Author/VWL)

Investigates characteristics of spoken French texts. Experience teaching French as a foreign language has revealed that some university students, even at a relatively advanced level, have difficulty understanding the news on Radio France International. Suggests that three characteristics of the spoken news program that may cause students…

Proposes an instructional design model for humanistic multimedia computer-enhanced language learning in a self-access environment for second language learning through listening and viewing comprehension. (Author/VWL)

Reports on a study that investigated the listening comprehension of 60 primary school students who were in their second year of learning English as a foreign language. Students listened to two tales that had been simplified under two different conditions: (1) with linguistic adjustments, and (2) with linguistic and interactional adjustments…

Focuses on the issue of the optimal on-line glossing format. Two glossing methods are compared. The first provides readers with sentence-level translation equivalents of the second language words. The second method connects the words with their meanings through basic dictionary forms. Examined which of the two methods is most beneficial for text…