This study explores the role of the language learning situation by comparing the speech of children in an immersion program, children learning a second language in a natural setting, and native French children. Three groups of children participated in the study: (1) 39 children (Grades K, 1, 3, 5) in a French immersion program in the U.S.; (2) 13…

The University of South Carolina's Master's Program in International Business began in June 1974, with 43 students studying German and Spanish. The program began with a 9-week intensive language learning program, followed by a nine-month unified business program, with language instruction twice a week; six weeks of area study concentrating on the…

The Market for Foreign Languages Study was begun in South Carolina to ascertain both the state's projected needs for modern foreign language competencies and the state's foreign language resources over the next five years. Questionnaires have been sent to industrial plants, secondary schools, and junior and senior colleges. Of the plants…

The establishment and direction of discussion groups, using tapes as a reference and vocabulary guide, in a sixth-grade class having a previous preparation of two years of daily French instruction are described. Grouping by fluency, choice of group leaders, and the discovery of problems and solutions through the eyes of group leaders are also…

This study explores the relationships between a child's discriminatory abilities in the areas of pitch, intensity, rhythm, timbre, and tonal memory and his capacity to comprehend and speak the Spanish language. The Spanish accent is analyzed on the basis of intonation, stress, sinalepha, and phone production. These factors were tested both in…

This document contains ideas for teaching English as a second language to young children from varied language backgrounds. Several visual aids are discussed: the object box, pictorial games, the felt board and experience chart, action games, and instructional pictures. (VM)

This paper presents a "natural" method of second language learning which stresses contact with native speakers and de-emphasizes textbook learning. The method described here is that used by Baptist missions in eastern Africa to teach Bemba, but is transferrable to any language. Some of the main principles of the method are: (1) language…

When analyzing data concerning interlanguage variation and discourse domain, it appears that learners may exhibit more control in their work-domain than in their life-story domain. Data were collected on the Dutch-French interlanguage of two university economics students to investigate the relation of domain to variation in utterances. (Author/…

To compare and contrast language development in 22 normal and 22 language handicapped children, aged five to eight, who speak Spanish as a first language, the study focused on differences and similarities in the children's Spanish. Handicapped children performed significantly worse than controls in production of syntactic features, though not in…

This paper examines the growth and development of the Arapaho immersion program and discusses language revitalization strategies and methods used on the Wind River Reservation (Wyoming). Following a community request for an Arapaho language and culture program in reservation public schools, a test class of kindergarten students received an hour of…

In this paper, the authors report the results of a study that compared differences in the linguistic gains made by native English-speaking students from the United States who were studying Spanish in one of two different contexts of learning. One was a regular university classroom situation in Colorado; the other was a study abroad program in…

A set of specific and practical ideas for teaching language skills are presented, centered around the use of charts or "squares" of pictures that represent ideas that can be expressed in basic English. The focus is a story square, a system of pictures tied together by a plot and presented to the class as a puzzle. Squares for pronunciation can be…

The following papers are presented in the conference proceedings: (1) "Development and Current Use of the FSI Oral Interview Test," by H. Sollenberger; (2) "Interview Testing in Non-European Languages," by W. Lovelace; (3) "Measuring Second Language Speaking Ability in New Brunswick's Senior High Schools," by M.…

Dr. Simon Belasco's paper "Programmed Instruction and the Psychology of Second Language Learning" explores basic assumptions held by curriculum designers and teachers concerning the possibility of second language acquisition in an artificial, unicultural, and contrived classroom environment. Concepts relating to scope and sequence, New Key…

The British Columbia French Speaking Test, administered to grade 3 immersion students, measured their speaking skills through a story- retelling and group discussion task. When 110 immersion children were compared to 25 Francophone children, results indicated that the immersion children were comparable to the francophones in communicative skills…