Focuses on a videoconferencing project that was conducted between an American and a French university. Describes the way that the exchange was set up and run, the types of equipment and materials that were used, the students' activities and assignments, the methods used for evaluating students' work, and the relationship of the project to the…

Draws on experiences from a 7-week exchange between students learning German at an American college and advanced students of English at a German university. Maps out the benefits to using a MOO (multiple user domains object-oriented) for language learning: a student-centered learning environment structured by such objectives as peer teaching,…

Surveyed 876 Japanese high school English teachers to determine their levels of approval of communicative, audiolingual, and traditional (yakudoku) activities and the strengths of various influences on their instructional practices in the context of Japan's new policies for the teaching of English. Data reveal the complexities of imposing broad…

Focuses on cohesion in discourse and connector usage. The article uses a bottom-up approach and evaluates previous studies of learner connector usage, including literature on contrastive French-English connector usage, and hypothesizes an overuse of connectors. It is concluded that learners should be taught the semantic, stylistic, and syntactic…

Investigates issues surrounding the use of tasks in oral tests with particular reference to group discussion. The article focuses on language testing, second-language acquisition, and discourse analysis to shed light on the selection of tasks for use in oral tests. (65 references) (Author/CK)

Advocates using the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) curriculum to deal with issues of employment in order to prepare immigrants to advocate on their own behalf. The article argues that educational personnel can advocate on behalf of immigrants for the implementation of appropriate ESL programming that will increase their access to employment.…

Outlines an initiative to assess preparatory learning needs of displaced workers, on an individual basis, and provide preparatory education to meet these needs. The article presents an account of one counselor's work with an ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) client using the Individualized Retraining Process proposed by the Literacy Branch of the…

Discusses findings on the lexical competence of students who are not native-speakers of English but who have been through an education system in which that language is the medium of instruction. The data indicate the existence of a problem related to use rather than to inadequate knowledge of word-meaning. Traditional criteria for item selection…

Examines the requirements of instructors of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) by surveying professors at four institutions of higher learning. Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate that U.S. instructors' lecturing styles are becoming more interactive, a trend placing new expectations upon students. (31 references) (Author/CK)

Tests the hypothesis that, owing to sex differences in prior knowledge and interests, the topic of a text is an important factor explaining sex-based differences in student scores on foreign-language tests. Results indicate that differences between the sexes in prior knowledge contribute to sex differences in foreign-language reading…

Whether Anglophone and Francophone students evaluate the same teachers equally, or whether the language in which instruction is delivered affects the evaluation, was studied with 988 first- and third-year students in Cameroon. Results indicate that students did evaluate teachers using their own language more highly and third-year students were…

Reviews current practices in foreign-language teaching in light of Bourdieu's theories of language and power to show how failing to assess discursive intent prevents students from understanding strategic use of language. Bordieu's model is then proposed as the basis for pedagogy that authorizes students to use their existing cognitive skills in…

Describes a prototypical microcomputer system that improves the interactions between teacher and large language classes in a traditional language classroom setting. This system achieves dynamic interactions through multiple student/professor interventions, immediate and delayed feedback, and individual teacher/student conferences. The system uses…

A study analyzed the accuracy of Spanish second-language production across three tasks (narrative, multiple-choice cloze test, fill-in cloze test) on three discourse-determined grammatical items (subject pronouns, articles, past tense aspect) among 74 intermediate and advanced college-level learners. Results revealed different rates of accuracy…

Reports a study of listening problems encountered in the English-as-a-foreign-language classroom in the English for Specific Purposes Centre at Damascus University in Syria. Looks particularly at learner strategies, features of the listening text, characteristics of the speaker, attitudes of the listener, the task to be completed as a result of…