This article provides an overview of research that has investigated the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (WCF) on ESL student writing. In doing so, it highlights a number of shortcomings in the design of some studies and explains what needs to be done in future research so that answers to the issues that have been raised can be…

Building on Sheen's (2007) study of the effects of written corrective feedback (CF) on the acquisition of English articles, this article investigated whether direct focused CF, direct unfocused CF and writing practice alone produced differential effects on the accurate use of grammatical forms by adult ESL learners. Using six intact adult ESL…

This study investigated the performance of native and non native speakers of Modern Greek language on morphology and syntax tasks. Non-native speakers of Greek whose native language was English, which is a language with strict word order and simple morphology, made more errors and answered more slowly than native speakers on morphology but not…

Binary algorithmic logic may prove useful for teaching grammar, especially in the case of 'closed-system items.' (Text is in French.) Available from Instituut voor Toegepaste Linguistiek, Vesaliusstraat 2, B. 3000 Leuven, Belgium. (TL)

Many students have difficulty in educational and employment settings because they have failed to master basic writing skills. Multiple-baseline across-tasks designs were used to evaluate the effects of the Comprehensive Writing Program (CWP), a multicomponent intervention, on the writing performance of all students (n = 17) from 3 9th-grade…

An innovative approach to facilitate student mastery of Spanish linguistic structures requiring manipulation of the direct object is described in this article. The method, derived originally from William Bull's "Spanish for Teachers," also enables students to apply the transformational method to sentences containing nominalized adjectives,…

Explains a method of teaching students the differences in usage between "good" and "well" and between "bad" and "badly." (MM)

The use of "a,""de," or nothing preceding complement infinitives in French is addressed from the perspective of the deeper grammatical relations involved, and possible instructional strategies are suggested. Examples and comparisons are made in English. Unlike the traditional approach, it is assumed that a preposition is…

Part of a continuing series treating various aspects of French grammar. (DS)

Descriptive vocabulary is needed for communication and mental processing of science observations. Elementary preservice teachers in a science methods class at a mid-sized public college in central New York State increased their descriptive vocabularies through a course assignment of making a descriptive adjective object box. This teaching material…

This article synthesizes research by applied linguists and mathematics educators to highlight the linguistic challenges of mathematics and suggest pedagogical practices to help learners in mathematics classrooms. The linguistic challenges include the multi-semiotic formations of mathematics, its dense noun phrases that participate in relational…