Writing is difficult for students who are learning English, as they often struggle to express what they really want to say. Writing is difficult for their teachers, too, who often struggle to respond in ways that are helpful. In this article, the authors offer an approach that looks at students' writing from a functional linguistics perspective,…

Based on empirical research and qualitative analysis, this paper aims to explore the effects of L1 use on L2 vocabulary teaching. The results show that, during L2 vocabulary teaching process, the proper application of L1 can effectively facilitate the memorization of new words, and the bilingual method (both English explanation and Chinese…

Using the 2001 California Health Interview Survey, this study compared health status, medical insurance, and having a usual source of care for 2,230 ethnic minority adolescents based on language use at home: Group 1, English only; Group 2, both English and another language; and Group 3, exclusively another language. Adjusting for demographic…

The growing presence of children of immigrant families in the public school system in the bilingual region of Catalonia provides us with an opportunity to study how young multilingual and multicultural speakers construct their social competencies and their identity within the specific context of a gate-keeping social institution such as the…

This digest considers the misconception that grammar is a collection of arbitrary rules about static structures in a language by challenging 10 common myths about grammar and its teaching. The myths include the following: (1) grammar is acquired naturally; it need not be taught; (2) grammar is a collection of meaningless forms; (3) grammar…

Article defined the threshold-level as the lowest level of general foreign-language ability to be recognized in the unit/credit system. It further attempted to answer the question of what the learner will need to do in a foreign language through an analysis of verbal behavior as a communicative activity. (Author/RK)

This book is a compilation of the papers presented at a conference on Hmong Research held at the University of Minnesota. The Hmong are a tribal people of Laos who have come to the United States as a result of Communist victories in their country. All of the papers related to the Hmong as they are seen in the West and the problems they face as…

A discussion of the use of the imperfect tense in French, aimed primarily at speakers of English and German. (Text is in French.) (AM)

This paper describes the "euphemistic lexicographical technique," which is recommended for use by lexicographers for the frank recording of vulgar speech. This is a monodirectional technique to be used in bilingual dictionaries prepared for speakers of only one of the two languages. The vulgar words will not appear in the source language…

This book is a glossary of traditional grammatical terms for students of modern languages. It attempts to describe, rather than to define, the technical vocabulary of language learning. Illustrative material, usually descriptive of English usage, is provided on the principle that if the student knows how his own language operates, he will be…

Texts using actual current language are highly motivating, but they demand considerable knowledge of the language. "Authentic" language--regional, technical, or sociologically conditioned--need not be scorned. Even the written style merits attention. (IFS/WGA)

A comprehensive study on error analysis was conducted to categorize problematic areas for French-speaking learners of English. "Faux amis" seemed to have been the cause of about 50 percent of the errors analyzed under lexis. Noun, adjective, and verb errors are illustrated. (SW)

Discusses the difference in meaning and use of "both" and "the two.""Both" applies to related actors, "the two" to independent ones. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Four distinct cases of the Russian imperfective-completive are examined, focusing on typical non-negated past-tense uses. One suggestion for improving the teaching of aspect is to draw simple parallels between English and Russian verb systems, both of which consist of the three aspectualities "completive,""habitual," and…

The property that determines which present infinitives can occur with subjectively used modals in German is identified. It is suggested that students be told to use modals subjectively with present infinitives only if the corresponding English sentence does not require the main verb to be progressive. (SW)