Students in Taiwan are required to learn English, and schools are placing even more emphasis on listening and speaking skills. At the same time, English-language programming is widely available in Taiwan via cable television. Cable television is a useful instructional tool for teachers of English as a Second Language. This source of authentic…

This issue includes the following articles: "Detaching Discourse Functions from Functional Projections" (Dora Alexopoulou); "Interface Conditions on Child Language: A Crosslinguistic Look at Genitives" (Sharon Armon-Lotem, Stephen Crain); "Formal Features and Movement at PF" (Ralph C. Blight); "Semantic Features…

This brief asks the question of what happens if the instructor isolates verbs and uses them in lesson plans for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students at the beginning and intermediate levels. The discussion is based on the experiences of one ESL teacher who found that the most pressing practical need of her students was a better command of…

The focus of this practitioner brief is: How do adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students manage their learning? The adult ESL instructor found that his students wanted more opportunities to speak English in class, and to practice actual oral communication skills in English, but felt too much of their time and effort was directed into rote…

This document contains the following papers on educational technology issues related to reading, language arts, and literacy: (1) "The Infusion of Technology into a Teacher Education Course: Issues and Strategies" (Mary Ann Kolloff); (2) "Project READ: Developing Online Course Materials for a Reading Methods Class" (Judith A.…

This bulletin reports on the contributions of the Federal Government to the improvement of language and area studies. This report indicates that two fundamental conclusions have become readily apparent: (1) non-Western studies have received material assistance under the National Defense Education Act of 1958 (NDEA) without which the present high…

150 female graduate students at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were interviewed. Since most students are not proficient in English, they are required to take an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course when admitted to the M.A. and Ph. D. programs, as locating information in specialized journals is required for their assignments,…

A study of limited-English-speaking Vietnamese children (K-12) showed that the best predictors of reading performance were grade, Vietnamese language background, amount of English spoken at home, higher level paternal occupation, and ESL class participation. Predictors not found significant included gender, siblings, television viewing, library…

Discusses the need of students in French business schools for developing speaking skills in English and the methods that were developed to meet this need. The use of case studies and role plays is evaluated and the need for a new way of presenting case studies is considered. (Author/AMH)

Describes an overview of language research and courses in British institutions of higher learning. Information is provided on the view of language held there, the development of the functional/notional approach, demands on the language teaching profession resulting from the Council of Europe proposals, and immigration into Britain. (Author/AMH)

Examines the emergence of the present perfect in the interlanguage of instructed adult learners of English as a Second Language. Findings indicate that adding a new inflection in the tense/aspect system requires establishing new form-meaning associations as well as revising existing ones. (44 references) (Author/CK)

Discusses the three-year Spanish program in a mixed ability environment at a Western Australia university. In order to capitalize on the wealth of the instructor's linguistic and cultural knowledge, opportunity is given for group work where advanced students are de facto language tutors. Concludes that this unique learning environment is a…

Compared "read schema activation," in which one group of Japanese women college students of English as a Second Language read a whole text related to the target text; and "written schema activation," in which a second group wrote about the topic of the target text. A control group read the target text twice. There were no…

Argues that free reading in a second language (such as English) done outside of school makes an important contribution to literacy development and academic achievement. Concludes that free reading is responsible for competence in writing style as well as other aspects of literacy. (four references) (CK)

Argues that classroom dialogic (structured, open-ended) inquiry, through problem-posing, is a tool for classroom research into second-language instruction, helping teachers develop better understanding of students' backgrounds, motivation, cultures, and strategies for learning English. Outlines steps in dialogic inquiry, and offers examples of its…