Intended as a practical reference for teachers and curriculum developers, the guide reviews options in student evaluation and considers the relevance of these for monitoring student learning in the context of a multidimensional curriculum for core French programs. Three categories of evaluation methods are examined: language tests; observation and…

Identifies potential conflicts in cultures of instruction between language teachers and learners because of different expectations in how languages ought to be taught. The article discusses data from a study of Chinese language instruction at the University of Oregon, noting what teachers and students considered most and least important features.…

Discusses the linguistic and psychological barriers that exist for English-speaking students of Arabic. The article explains theoretical and practical issues in teaching Arabic as a foreign language and describes the implementation of four principles in the Foreign Service Institute approach. Suggests that this approach is transferrable to…

Factors influencing English word identification performance of 27 Spanish-speaking beginning readers (grade 1) were investigated. Performance on English word and pseudoword recognition tests was predicted by Spanish phonological awareness and Spanish word recognition. Implications for instruction of beginning readers are discussed. (SLD)

This study used qualitative methods, including observation, unstructured interviews, and questionnaires, for analyzing the vocational English-language-instruction needs of hotel maids. Methods and sources (maids, supervisor, executive housekeeper, human resources staff) were triangulated to determine reliability. An unbalanced distribution of…

Israel's AMAL Aleph High School combines advanced technology with regular high school academic studies. This article describes how one English-as-a-Second-Language teacher joined a project to develop an online English student magazine for the Center for Educational Technology Internet site, then used to the project to improve students' English…

Discusses the status of community languages and school language programs in Australia, amid changing public policy, makes suggestions for managing linguistic diversity, and considers what happens when a community language becomes a desired commodity for the whole population. Considers historical context for development of pluralistic policies in…

Describes the process of selecting and developing a debate team at the University of New South Wales (Australia) to compete in an international Modern Standard Chinese debating competition. Discusses issues in selecting team members, training needs and strategies (particularly self-directed learning), time pressure, and the success of the…

Four of linguist John Swales's former doctoral students narrate their experiences with his mentoring style. Four important areas for mentoring are discussed: beginning the research process; analysis and writing; preparation for academic career; and the relationship between advisor and student. Narratives reveal both the complexity of the graduate…

Interviews were conducted with a small group of multilingual students in an adult literacy class to examine how, at the individual student level, everyday literacy practices differ and intersect with a number of linguistic, cultural, and situational variables, and thus, how students' literacy needs differ in terms of a literacy program. (39…

Alternating between languages in the construction of stories offers students creative opportunities for bilingual learning. Describes how a storyteller can code switch to tell stories to children who are becoming bilingual and presents an example from early-immersion classrooms in Colombia, discussing code switching and discourse control, and…

Investigates the efficacy of integrating electronic-mail writing into two English-as-Foreign-Language (EFL) classrooms and explores the dynamics involved in the process of e-mail exchanges. Students in one class were paired up to exchange e-mail messages with the students in the other class for one semester. At the end of the project, a written…

Describes and analyzes the perceptions and reactions of a well-qualified, positively oriented primary-school English teacher to Hong Kong's target-oriented curriculum (TOC) initiative, a major government-sponsored innovation. The analysis encompasses teacher attitudes, teacher training and support, teachers' understanding of an innovation, teacher…

Investigates the effect of oral and electronic media on interaction patterns by learners of Japanese as a second language. The framework for the analysis of learner is speech act theory, which provides a richly developed set of descriptive categories by which to examine interactional processes. (Author/JL)

Reviews the history of the English language in Egypt and examines the forms and functions of English use in contemporary Egypt. (Author/VWL)