This paper describes responses to linguistic pluralism in Australian policy in relation to Australia's Asian language context, and the teaching and learning of Japanese within these two frameworks. Finally, the paper considers some ideas relating intercultural language learning to all second language study termed: the Third Place. There are three…

English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students attending mainstream university courses for the first time struggle with language proficiency issues and have to adjust to unfamiliar pedagogical concepts, including an emphasis on critical thinking. The purpose of this paper is to determine to what extent and to what degree ESOL and…

This paper reports on the language learning beliefs of beginning-level English as a foreign language (EFL) students in a Mexican university, part of a larger study to find out why so many Mexican EFL at-risk academic learners fail. The at-risk learners beliefs about foreign language learning are compared with those of English proficient beginning…

This paper considers the situation of a non-native speaker of English who is educated in teaching English to speakers of other languages in the United States, and then returns to his or her country of origin to teach. This teacher encountered many difficulties and much resistance to the teaching methodologies learned in American graduate schools…

During the last decade, new efforts have aimed at improving foreign language education in the United States. A recent study concerned with the need to strengthen foreign language skills among U.S. students examined the successes of other countries. Conducted by the Center for Applied Linguistics, the study collected information from 22 educators…

Generally, in Japanese as a Second Language (JSL) teacher education, various teaching approaches are introduced to trainee teachers by highly experienced teachers or specialists. This training helps trainees acquire a particular body of knowledge about JSL, and hopefully through this approach, teaching methods that are commonly perceived to be…

The standards-based education reform movement has serious implications for students who are English language learners (ELLs), particularly with regard to wide scale assessment. Standards-based reform has been promoted nationwide through two federal initiatives--the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and Title I of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary…

This paper explains how oral competence in foreign languages is developed by applying constructivist pedagogic methodology to the four language skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Foreign language constructivist methodology departs from the information processing model and behaviorist teaching that guide the transmission of…

The writings of both teachers and students participating in the New Americans Homeowners Project, a project combining English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and information on first-time home-buying for immigrants in language minority groups are presented. The project provided training and technical assistance to ESL teachers, and reached…

Ideas and activities for using authentic materials in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom are collected here. Each activity centers on an audio, visual, or written text from an English language environment, including samples from many different genres: television, radio, and video; newspapers, magazines, and literature; maps, mail,…

This paper examines how semiotic analysis may be useful in teaching media literacy to nonnative speakers of English (NNSs), including both immigrants and international students who plan to return to their countries. It focuses on two television shows. The first show, "Friends," covers issues and problems of contemporary urban life for…

Expectations of performance in a foreign language are important predictors of future achievement. Two types of bias occur in foreign language learning: self-enhancement bias, which pertains to students who are unrealistically optimistic about their ability to learn a foreign language; and self-derogation bias, which pertains to those students who…

The five bibliographies included here were selected from those of a graduate-level class in methodology for teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). They were selected based on the quality of research and writing, interest the topic might have for other English-as-a-second-language teachers, and student permission. They include:…

Classroom techniques are suggested for teaching English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students cognitive and academic skills needed for academic success, using the reading and analysis of folk tales. Skills targeted include comparing and contrasting, evaluating ideas, supporting claims with facts and evidence, organizing and grouping ideas, and using…

The process of developing, pilot testing, and revising a set of English-as-a-Second-Language instructional materials for computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is described. The materials are designed to prepare students for job interviews in the Hong Kong (China) employment market, which differs in some significant ways from other…