FLAME (Foreign Language Alternative Mastery Example) is a model for foreign language in the elementary school (FLES), conducted after school and focused on development of a broad vocabulary base, especially cognates and terms relevant to the student's everyday environment. In the program, FLES student teachers collaborate with a university-based…

Portrays the effects of demographic, social, and cultural dislocation experienced by members of the Australian Strelley Aboriginal community on observed shift in languages, such as Nyangumarta and other Western Desert languages. Examines changes in code mixing and the need for English as the language of formal education. (23 references) (Author/OK)

Investigates the use of an annotation scheme in which students identify their own concerns through marginal or end-notes addressed to their teachers. The study's analysis focused on form, content, and students' views. Results indicate that students annotated mainly for syntax and lexis, in the form of confirmation requests. (21 references)…

Examines the use of cohesive conjunctions by student writers in Hong Kong to ascertain how it differs from native speaker use, to gauge the extent to which teaching, textbooks and transfer are influential, and to analyze the extent of misuse and unnecessary use. The article makes suggestions for teaching implications and further research. (18…

Discusses the impact of computer networking on foreign language teaching and focuses on the competing claims made regarding the value of network-based language learning activity. A description of how internet-based activities operate in the classroom is included. (24 references) (Author/CK)

Investigates the relationship of attitudes and cultural background to reading comprehension in the second language (L2) of Israeli Arab students learning Hebrew and Israeli Jewish and Canadian Arab students learning English. Results showed that the motivation of students to learning their L2 was instrumental rather than integrative, regardless of…

Investigates the reliability of measures of linguistic accuracy in second language writing. The study uses a holistic scale, error-free T-units, and an error classification system on the essays of English-as-a-Second-Language students and discusses why disagreements arise within a rater and between raters. (24 references) (Author/CK)

Argues that the theoretical consensus on second language learning, which focuses on instruction in the target language, contradicts the main premises used by bilingual education advocates to gain respectability for bilingual education programs. The roles of translation, transfer, input, and interaction in the Eastman model of bilingual education,…

Describes an innovative Japanese elementary school foreign language (FLES) program introduced at the Laboratory School of the University of Pittsburgh. Lessons focused on thematic vocabulary presented within a context, a language function associated with the context, and some attention to the grammatical or syntactic structure necessary for…

A study compared the effectiveness of two methods of second language instruction, video-based and text-based, during one academic year of college-level French instruction. Experimental and control groups each had 14 subjects. Results showed some difference in achievement in listening, and little in reading, speaking, writing, or grammar. (MSE)

Discusses the use of Teacher's Partner, a multimedia tool that assists the foreign language teacher by presenting communicative exchanges among native speakers. Year-long research analyzing classroom interaction patterns showed increased use of communicative discourse by teacher and students in those class periods when the Teacher's Partner was…

The design, implementation, and evaluation of a self-paced course in first-year college French are described, focusing on student choice in deciding which of four language skills (listening/speaking, writing, reading, or culture) they would concentrate on. Considered are course organization, use of assistants and student tutors, and course…

A tutorial program in English as a Second Language, in which the tutors were prospective teachers, is described and evaluated for general procedure, scheduling, teacher-student contact, use of instructional materials, oral practice, error correction strategy, and student attitudes and performance. (MSE)

Discussion of FLES (foreign languages in elementary schools) programs in the United States looks at their history, current status within and outside the United States, important FLES issues (long-range planning, teacher qualifications and recruitment, delivery models, mandated programs, research needs, teaching methods) and importance to the…

Asserts that research into the effects of word processing on student writing is dependent on established writing skills, keyboarding techniques, human intervention, and the established criteria for good writing. Concludes that nonnative writers may benefit in significant ways from the attributes of word processing. (CFR)