This study investigated the effects of two instructional components, literature logs and instructional conversations, on the story comprehension and thematic understanding of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners. Subjects were 5 teachers and 116 fourth- and fifth-grade students; slightly over half were ESL learners in their first or second…

Based on a hypothetical situation in which second language learners must attain substantial skills in a very short time, the paper recommends intensive training not in the language itself, but in skills and strategies for learning the language. This requires achieving self-directed learning skills to: create a climate maximizing learning; identify…

A collection of articles on dictionaries for advanced second language learners includes essays on the past, present, and future of learners' dictionaries; alternative dictionaries; dictionary construction; and dictionaries and their users. Titles include: "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow; or Vaticinations on the Learners' Dictionary"…

A study investigated results of the 1982 Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation initiative to expand teaching of Chinese in high schools. The approach taken was to examine the entire range of elements in the Dodge initiative at 55 schools where projects were funded, drawing from questionnaires, site visits, and interviews. Additional, different…

Using a case history approach, one teacher's attempt to integrate theory and practice in an elementary English-as-a-Second-Language classroom is described. Paulo Freire's problem-posing educational model is examined in terms of its capacity to incorporate effectively the following theoretical premises: (1) language and culture form an inseparable…

A study examined the collaboration between vocational teachers and their colleagues in vocational English as a Second Language (VESL) or English as a second language (ESL) on behalf of limited English proficient (LEP) students in mainstream vocational classrooms. Visits were made to three secondary and three postsecondary sites nationwide. Data…

A survey was conducted at the Chulalongkorn University Language Institute in Thailand to identify societal needs for using English. The following issues were investigated: (1) the extent to which English was being used and was needed by Thai government personnel; (2) the extent and purpose of using listening, speaking, reading, writing, and…

The report details developments in three areas of United States foreign language instruction, each reflecting major changes in the way foreign language educators think about their role and the way in which they structure the learning process for students. The first section describes the adoption of a voluntary national standard for testing…

A number of language classroom activities designed to incorporate the senses into the English-as-a-Second-Language learning process are described. The strategies used involve group problem-solving, role-playing, information-gap activities using drawing and visual aids, the Total Physical Response approach, student-developed illustrations, games…

The fourth-year update of a longitudinal study examined the progress of the 31 remaining members of 2 classes in the first cohort of a Spanish immersion program and their standard-program monolingual comparison group of 15 students. Achievement gains were measured on standardized tests of mathematics and language skills. Results provided new…

Increasingly, technology is incorporated into second language teaching and learning both in and out of classroom situations. The computer alone has many capabilities for enhancing language learning, but when combined with other technologies, the possibilities multiply for information retrieval, interactive audio- and video-assisted learning, use…

The process of setting objectives for the reading component of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course at Suva University in Fiji is described. The course is taken concurrently with a history course whose reading component is integrated into the EAP curriculum and whose specified objectives were to be facilitated by the EAP instruction. The…

Problems inherent in student evaluation of second language teaching methodology, particularly task-based instruction, are discussed and recommendations are made. It is argued that course evaluation by learners is based on their assessment of their own communicative performance, and that they are likely to attribute a general sense of progress, at…

A model for evaluating a college second language writing instruction program is presented, based on experiences at the De La Salle University (Philippines) writing laboratory. The laboratory, a support unit of the university's language program, provides remedial instruction in composition and academic writing for referred students. The proposed…

The matched-guise technique uses recorded voices speaking first in one dialect or language, then in another. Listeners do not know that the speech samples are from the same person, but judge the two guises of the same speaker as two separate speakers. The technique has been used to investigate a variety of sociolinguistic, social-psychological,…