A number of devices for use in teaching foreign language conservation courses are described. Among them are hypothetical situations, group discussions, activities for improving oral comprehension, plays and skits, collective stories, dialogues, interviews, speeches, recorded songs, cartoon captions, television games, and card techniques. (RM)

Discusses the use of puns, riddles and jokes in building vocabulary, beginning reading, and fostering discussion. Examples are presented and further source materials are suggested. (EJS)

Discusses the pedagogical uses, for a French class, of the following: a meteorological bulletin, seven classroom games, J. Anouilh's play "L'Alouette," and horoscopes. (AM)

Group creative writing activities encourage foreign language students to participate on various levels as thinkers, writers, readers, and critics. Students stimulate, correct, and give feedback to each other about writing skills. (CB)

Word puzzles can be useful in FL teaching. They provide motivation. But they should be limited by the learner's linguistic competence, and should be carefully designed, with clear information, so as to create a high probability of successful solution. Method is discussed, using 3 examples. (IFS/WGA)

This paper offers a series of practical, useful tips for creating lessons for adult English language learners (ELLs). It begins by offering seven questions to help the teacher think through the lesson ahead of time. It also provides tips for creating a general lesson plan, and tips for tapping the four language modes: speaking, listening, reading,…

This paper proposes a synthesis of instructional methods from both traditional/explicit grammar and learner-centered/constructivist camps that also incorporates many types of metaphors (abstract, visual, and kinesthetic) in order to lead learners from declarative to proceduralized to automatized knowledge. This integrative, synthetic approach…

Discusses some reasons offered for the ease with which young children learn a second language. Children of kindergarten age can learn language in a playlike atmosphere in groups no larger than 10-12 children. Pronunciation is the outstanding skill, but comprehension and active speaking also show favorable results. (PJM)

Presents a dice-and-board game for teaching French, designed to solidify vocabulary (dealing with shopping at a store) and to afford practice in certain grammatical structures. (IFS/WGA)

Proposes the use of word games to promote the enjoyment of literature studies by second language learners. (AM)

Discusses the use of puzzles as supplementary activity in the language classroom. (AM)

Suggests some techniques for capturing students' attention at the beginning of a language class in the elementary grades. (AM)

Presents information regarding how North American teachers of Spanish can use authentic texts in Spanish to introduce some measure of cultural authenticity to their students. The article suggests that instructors need to use strategic orientation to reading tasks in order to overcome any possible cultural mismatches. (seven references) (Author/CK)

Lists activities designed to improve students' skills in speaking, writing, singing, and grammar in a foreign language. These activities include talking about resolving a problem situation, writing a narrative in the foreign language being studied, listening to a song and associating its words with images, and engaging in conversation designed to…

Focuses on listening activities in the second-language classroom. After discussing problems related to listening and listening as a test versus listening as a learning experience, the article suggests that the teacher exploit what is known about the language and the world to make listening part of a learning whole as opposed to a distinct…