Discusses and critiques the notional/functional syllabus and the concept of "threshold level" as elaborated by the Council of Europe. (AM)

Although the importance of writing is well recognized, it is largely neglected in the elementary curriculum because of the current emphasis on reading; to change this trend, teacher educators must influence teachers to adopt positive attitudes toward writing. They should help teachers derive satisfaction from writing experiences, demonstrate…

Improvement of communication skills for junior college students is a valid goal, but traditional methods defeat it. A sociolinguistic approach maintains the goal but alters the methods, choosing to teach the skills in the context of relevant material: language against the backdrop of society, Teaching language sociolinguistically means including…

Defines basic characteristics and types of social conversation within small groups and gives guidelines for classroom practice stressing preliminary discussion of situations, topics, appropriate vocabulary, and language style. Discusses teacher's role during students' conversation practice and describes materials suitable for initial practice.…

Second language learners are engaged in a self-directed learning program which is supported by regular interviews with their counsellor. Interviews with 15 persons were recorded during a 1-year period in order to get data for an analysis of the ways native and second language learning are similar to each other and so mutually helpful. The data…

Research indicates that most blacks shift between a variety of social registers to produce inherent variability in the features of their speech, which in turn causes problems for college composition instruction. Writing teachers must avoid holding a stereotypic view of black speech, be sensitive to the varying social registers of black speech, and…

As the inexperienced writer becomes aware of the issues involved in the composition of effective descriptive prose, he also develops a consistent control over his materials. The persona he chooses, if coherently thought out, can function as an index of many choices, helping him to manipulate the tone, intent, and mood of this style; to regulate…

This paper presents background information on the development of the folk oral tradition of black American literature. It then examines seven types of black literature that are basically oral: black folk tales, black folk sermons, black ballads, black American spirituals, black nonreligious or secular songs, black American blues, and Afro-American…

In an underdeveloped country such as New Guinea, the viability of the economy depends on the ability of the inhabitants to supply the skilled manpower to compete in a technological world. The key to this is largely the mastery of a world language--in this case, English. Mastery must cover the vocation of the worker, since English in a vocational…

The focus of this highly quantitative investigation is the analysis of the differences observed, both in methodological approach and in language choice in the classroom, during five years of classroom visitations. The study reflects information collected from two very different institutions with radically distinct populations: a rural setting with…

This article discusses three types of films and their use in the second language classroom. The description film is objective and static, and elicits adjectives and adverbs. This kind of film should be presented three times, each time followed by a different set of learning exercises. The culture film - characterized by descriptions, scenes from…

The many ways in which children use language are examined in this paper, and classroom implications are outlined. The first part of the paper discusses such topics as young children's focus on meaning in language, teachers' tendency to examine language in terms of form rather than meaning, and the importance of the student/teacher interaction…

A major problem in using traditional assessment procedures lies in the use of theoretical and statistical assumptions for interpreting and measuring attention, memory, and verbal abilities, and attempting to relate these constructs to academic subjects. With respect to evaluating temperaments and learning styles, the present methods of…

Becoming bilingual as defined in this book is a process by which an adult acquires an additional language in the environment in which it is spoken, surrounded by the culture in which it is used. The book seeks to present the learner with an integrated and systematic treatment of his task--linguistic, cultural, and practical--in learning a new…

Describes a fifth-semester university course in German in which students analyze the stylistic features of the language and its function in specific cultural contexts, such as films, speeches, songs, and newspapers. The course is conducted entirely in German and focuses on a single stylistic theme each week. (SED)