Reports the results of an experiment which tested the ability of native English-speaking students of Spanish and native Spanish speakers to comprehend an oral passage, in Spanish, and remember the word order of certain sentences. The findings indicate that word order significantly affected the degree of the English speakers' comprehension.…

This paper explores the auxiliary systems of English and German and the use of the auxiliary verbs in various complex predicate structures in the two languages. It aims at alleviating two types of problems in learning German involving governing patterns and ordering problems in clauses. (CHK)

Emphasizes that traditional textbook explanations of the preterite and imperfect tend to focus on their aspectual differences. The article argues that a comprehensive analysis of the interaction of these two tenses in narration must go beyond aspect to include their respective temporal and discourse properties. (30 references) (Author/CK)

The Broward County Elementary Foreign Language Program (grades K-5) provides English-speaking students with an understanding of Hispanic cultures, an opportunity to learn the Spanish language with emphasis on oral communication, and a positive attitude toward learning languages. (LB)

While reading or speaking, individuals break up sentences into "meaningful chunks." This is true of any individual with any language background. Failure to do so, in an L2 context, leads to idiosyncrasies, and may possibly create some comprehensibility problems. In this study, native and non-native speakers of English read an authentic text into a…

An evaluation of the t-unit as the basic unit of analysis of second language development in written form argues that despite the t-unit's advantages, the sentence-based analysis is superior for examining syntactic complexity in at least three ways: (1) it better characterizes learner knowledge; (2) it facilitates comparison across learners and…

Three studies comparing the respective roles of interlanguage universals and natural language transfer in determining learners' judgments of grammaticality used college students of French in their second, third, and fourth semesters as subjects. In the first experiment, the subjects were exposed to both grammatical and four types of ungrammatical…

This paper describes an innovative method for teaching reading comprehension in a second language. The underlying assumption of this method is that a student who reads in his native language does not need to learn a theoretical system of grammar rules in the traditional sense of the term, since he already possesses the ability to recognize words…

This issue of "TESL Reporter" presents the following articles: "Language Acquisition and Dialectalism" by Patricia G. Adkins, "Supplementation of Opposites in Simple Predicate Expansion" by Yao Shen, and "Form Class Baseball: A TESL Game" by Alice C. Pack. The meaning today of dialectal speech, or "bidialectal speech," is addressed by Patricia…

The properties of "do", its distribution and meaning, are discussed. "Do" is one of the most common error-zones for Indian learners of English. Two analyses of "do" which account for the distribution and meaning of this element are presented. According to the transformational approach, "do" is introduced in…

Presents four lessons that introduce the use of the passive voice in the context of describing processes. (KM)

A simplified formula for teaching German word order to American students is suggested. Other formulas in a few manuals are reviewed; suggestions for application of this one are offered. Consistent use of the formula has resulted in quicker development of a native feeling for the structure of the language. (AMH)

Investigates the interaction of syntax, semantics, and pragamatics from the perspectives of functional constraints on sentence processing. Findings reveal that native speakers of Italian first become aware of the importance of the concept of word order in a second language before being able to determine the specifics of word order in that…

Describes a device or "game" using 3x5 cards to divide sentences in such a way as to guide the language learner to anticipate grammatical structures; to make him aware that grammar, as well as vocabulary, conveys meaning. (EJS)