Topics for conversation courses include conversational rules and structure, conversational strategies, functions and meaning in conversation, and social and cultural contexts. The direct teaching of conversational skills involves adding specific language input, increasing the role of consciousness raising, and sequencing communicative tasks…

Four-year olds (n=167) in Head Start were assigned to an intervention condition involving an add-on emergent literacy curriculum or the regular Head Start program. Intervention effects were large for writing and print domains and were noted for language when primary caregivers were actively involved in the intervention. (SLD)

Describes a pilot project to deal with the problem of articulating postsecondary language study. This project consists of 1 elementary school immersion teacher and 21 foreign language teachers from high schools and colleges. The project has the potential of effecting a statewide adoption of proficiency standards and an improvement in the quality…

Drawing on the results of sociolinguistic research in three ethnically different communities in Wellington, New Zealand, this paper explores and illustrates the process of language shift and language revival. Members of the Greek, Tongan, and Chinese communities were interviewed; and data were collected on their language proficiency, patterns of…

Reports on a study investigating whether a field-specific oral proficiency test would be a better predictor of field-specific performance than a general purpose oral proficiency test. A theoretical discussion is presented on field-specific language testing and guidelines for the construction of oral proficiency tests in specific purpose contexts.…

Humor can enliven classes, establish and maintain rapport, create ambiance for learning, and enhance student acquisition and retention. Ways to use humor in the classroom are presented, including clearly verbal approaches, visual aid techniques (magazines, cartoons, ads, etc.), and the humor of stand-up comedians. (12 references) (LB)

Examines the curriculum of international teaching assistant (ITA) programs within a sociolinguistic model of language use, the "communicative competence" model proposed by Hymes (1972). The authors advocate reconceptualizing language skills in terms of communicative competence allowing ITA programs to better prepare ITAs for their roles as…

In a Norwegian study of fifth grade linguistic minority (LM) children's comprehension of the language of instruction, it was found that some LM children still have serious comprehension problems in spite of being born and schooled in Norway. Teachers correctly expected the LM children to comprehend less than their Norwegian classmates. (33…

This article discusses case studies of subjects labeled as learning disabled (LD) who have gained a degree of proficiency in a second language. The subjects' performance on written dictations, oral readings, and comprehension after oral and silent reading are compared qualitatively between their first and second language. (60 references) (JL)

A study of three grammar consciousness-raising tasks dealing with word order among Japanese university students showed that the tasks successfully promoted both proficiency gains and second-language negotiated interaction in participants. Negotiation quantity was determined by the combination of task features present rather than the nature of the…

Finds that students were on-task even when they were silent or when there was a lot of noise in the room; reluctance to answer questions of participate in oral interactions were not necessarily the result of a lack of comprehension; and monolingual students were sensitive to the capabilities of the LEP students. (RS)

Investigates whether reading instruction for adult English-as-a-Second-Language students should focus on fostering linguistic ability or on increasing background knowledge. Demonstrates that both linguistic knowledge and prior knowledge contribute significantly to reading comprehension. Argues that an integrative approach to reading instruction is…

The influences of white Dutch and black Surinamer differences in skin color, accent, speech style, and spoken fluency on police officers' perceptions were examined for 173 Dutch police officers. Results provide empirical support for the existence of nonverbal communication errors in cross-cultural police-citizen interactions. (SLD)

Conflicting evidence regarding listening comprehension as a separate trait in language proficiency is reviewed. Two studies conducted in Japan are presented that use the multitrait-multimethod methodology to examine the construct validity of the listening trait. (74 references) (Author/LB)

Explains the relationship between international trade and language competence in Australia and describes programs to enable students to spend part of their study time learning European Community (EC) languages in countries other than their own. Also discusses the status of foreign language learning in the United Kingdom. (SM)