This article presents a survey and analysis of Examiners' Reports on French written papers, looking specifically at difficulties in using verbs appropriately. It draws on evidence from second-language acquisition research to determine the nature of the problem and hypothesizes links between the decline in written accuracy and the rise in oral…

This study focused on the input-to-intake phenomenon: Can foreign language/second language (L2) learner-readers process grammatical information presented via written input as intake? Multiple tasks were designed to assess the processing of input into intake by first- and second-year students of Spanish. (JL)

Investigation of the use of a multiple-trait scoring procedure to obtain communicative writing profiles of adult nonnative English speakers found that the scoring method was highly reliable in composite assessment, but provided little psychometric support for assessing certain individual writing components. (28 references) (Author/CB)

Explores the relationship between written and spoken language and questions whether skills and strategies used in reading can be effectively transferred to listening. Suggests working from the text may be more productive than using strategies. Field questions these assumptions, and Ridgway defends his point. (Author/VWL)

Sociolinguistic rules governing choice of pronouns of address are notoriously difficult in French, despite the fact that the number of variants is rather limited: the more formal "vous" versus the more informal "tu." Children with French as L1 learn to use pronouns of address appropriately as part of their socialization process. The learning curve…

This article reports on a small-scale study involving adult L1 Swedish learners of L3 German. The main aim of the study was to investigate the effects of group interaction on written German output employing the dictogloss technique. Three short texts were selected for reconstruction, the first and third ones individually, and the second one…

Bilingual reading can require more than knowing two languages. Learners must acquire also the writing conventions of their second language, which can differ in its deep mapping principles (writing system) and its visual configurations (script). We review ERP (event-related potential) and fMRI studies of both Chinese-English bilingualism and…

Of all the language skills, writing is the most difficult challenge for language teachers because students have less experience with written expression. Stimulated by audio-visual materials throughout their lives, students are novices in the discipline of writing. Making writing an ongoing part of foreign language acquisition from the first day in…

The following are discussed as the main reason for English spelling mistakes among non-native speakers: interference from the native writing system, lack of auditory discrimination, misapplying analogy and direct translation. Techniques for handling spelling errors are also discussed. (AG)

This summary of the literature on the relationships between oral and written language points out that (1) there is a similarity between first language acquisition and second language learning, and (2) children acquiring English as their first language and English-speaking adults learning a foreign language exhibit similar syntactic maturity. Also…

This article describes discursive functions in the three major areas of non-literary written communication: (1) official or personal correspondence; (2) technical reading or editing; and (3) the press. Illocutionary acts are examined under their three aspects: graphic, lexical, enunciative. This description is intended to result in training…

This bibliography cites books and articles pertaining to the teaching of composition to students of English as a second language. Entries include publications from various countries, and most have been published since 1965. A select list of English and American textbooks for teaching composition is also included. (CLK)

A study of errors in papers written by upper-level (Grades 11-13) students of English, notably in the use of participles, inversion, modal auxiliary verbs, pointed to deficiencies in upper-level teaching texts, insufficient exposure, and goals that are too high. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

To make it easier for Chinese children to learn how to read, the Chinese writing system is being changed. The experimental approach of combining Chinese characters and pinyin is currently being carried out in Chinese primary schools. How this approach works in teaching children to read is described. (RM)

Presents an experiment which assessed the effectiveness of teaching written French to university students with computer assisted instruction (CAI). Results indicate that the CAI drill and practice lessons didn't effect any greater achievement improvement than ordinary instruction, but students had favorable attitudes toward CAI. (MBR)