Examines the past and present role of illustrations in language learning and analyzes the illustration content of 18 introductory Spanish texts published from 1960 to 1989. Illustrations may confuse students who lack adequate guidance from their teachers. (21 references) (Author/CK)

Examines linguistic data from peripheral areas of Mexico and suggests that the contemporary resistance of the final /s/ in Spanish is characteristic only of urban regions. The study also hypothesizes that Spanish final /s/ was once more generally weakened throughout Mexico. An indirect Nahuatl contribution is also postulated. (62 references)…

The pedagogical use of commands in second-language learning is addressed. Current textbooks are shown to expose students to many morphologically complicated command forms, and it is suggested that command use may be facilitated by offering students a reduced system of commands. (33 references) (Author/LB)

Describes the literacy acquisition and development of Spanish-speaking children enrolled in bilingual programs of writing instruction. Focuses on the experiences of one eight-year-old student and presents various strategies used to help the student become a proficient writer in her native language. (HB)

Forty-six Spanish-speaking children, ages 4-8, were asked to explain what happened in a silent film. Compared to younger children, older children demonstrated increased use of elliptical reference to refer to places in stories, an increase in appropriate phrases, and a decrease in ambiguities and additions. (Author/JDD)

The quantitative methodology of GOLDVARB is used to examine the variable distribution of lexical noun phrases representing core arguments of the verb in a corpus of spoken French and Spanish. The distribution is shown to conform to a grammatically and pragmatically motivated pattern known as Preferred Argument Structure. (Contains 26 references.)…

In a study attention in second-language learning, four groups of beginning learners of Spanish (n=83 total) completed one of four crossword puzzles designed to isolate the effects of alertness, orientation, and detection. Results lend strong empirical support to one theory of attention, while indicating short-term effects of detection. (Author/MSE)

A study examined the benefits of multisensory structured language (MSL) instruction in Spanish for 39 high school students at risk for foreign-language learning difficulties and 16 controls. On measures of oral and written foreign-language proficiency, the MSL and control groups scored significantly higher than those instructed using traditional…

Describes successful techniques for teaching mathematics through a foreign language (in this case Spanish). These techniques include using calendar and graphing activities, incorporating mathematics into the morning message, using cloze patterns, solving word problems, using the language of metacognition, and finding math happenings in everyday…

Responses of 36 bilingual adults, 107 Puerto Ricans, and 247 Puerto Rican adolescents demonstrate the high degree of measurement equivalence between Spanish and English versions of the Psychological Acculturation Scale, developed to assess acculturation from a phenomenological perspective. (SLD)

Twenty-two Spanish-speaking children ages 3 to 6 years participated in an elicited production study designed to test whether children's ability to produce subjunctive relative clauses related to their ability to pass a false-belief task. Results indicated a strong correlation between children's ability to use the subjunctive mood in relative…

Investigated use of reading skills by intermediate and advanced learners of Spanish to determine whether performance is uniform across learners and across reading texts. Subjects read two authentic unabridged passages in Spanish and were asked to answer questions based on the skills isolated for the study. The skills were locating details that…

Identifies sources of variability in reading and spelling performance of Spanish-speaking children learning English as a second language and suggests specific intervention procedures to facilitate development of reading and spelling skills in these children. An integrated approach that addresses reading and spelling as reciprocal processes is…

This case study investigated whether patterns obtained from elicited speech also hold for conversational data. A longitudinal corpus of spontaneous/natural speech from an adult first-language Spanish learner of second-language Swedish is studied. (Author/VWL)

A survey of 358 university students enrolled in first- and second-semester French and Spanish classes indicates that students are overwhelmingly positive about the importance of knowing a foreign language. This article presents the results of this survey, along with its pedagogical implications. (Author/VWL)