Presents study conducted to determine whether sentence combining approach would increase rate of written syntactic development of college students of French, German, and Spanish. Results show it is effective for teaching some aspects of writing to intermediate foreign language students. (BK)

Describes a study designed to examine native speakers' reactions to errors contained in compositions written by advanced Spanish students, as a measure of error seriousness and a guide for selective correction. Suggests that errors interfering with comprehension should be eliminated first, followed by those that elicit negative reactions from…

Describes and reviews 16 texts, supplements, kits, and professional references for bilingual education and English for foreign speakers. Nine items relate specifically to Spanish speakers. (SJL)

Describes a study/travel program, offered at Cleveland State University, which combines a quarter-long topical course devoted to the study of a country, followed by a two-week visit to the country. The course is designed to teach both language and culture. (Author/AM)

Discusses techniques that facilitate student learning, conserve instructor time, provide a rationale for course and materials design, and increase inter-rater reliability. Includes suggestions for providing for student differences, determining what to teach and when, and saving time in grading compositions. (PMJ)

Suggests ways of improving the curriculum for the M.A.T. degree by offering courses more relevant to what secondary school language teachers have to teach. (RM)

Bulletin boards in language classrooms can be highly motivating learning activities. Examples are given here of several activities used successfully at beginning and intermediate levels of Spanish in secondary schools. (CHK)

By pooling resources, an elementary school desiring to add Spanish instruction to its curriculum and a university exploring ways to enhance the preparation of bilingual/ESL teachers found a solution: a K-5 Spanish-language program staffed by prospective bilingual and second-language teachers from Washington State University. Begun in 1994, the…

Argues that communicative competence in Spanish as a second language can not be taught without giving attention to the grammatical component of language. Compares aspects of the traditional and communicative approaches to language teaching, refers to theory on grammar instruction, and offers examples of classroom activities supporting the learning…

Examined the strategies used by native-English-speaking foreign language (FL) learners to read Spanish and English texts in order to investigate differences in FL reading strategies between males and females. Results indicate that students processed the Spanish and English passages using local and global strategies, respectively, and that males…

Investigates the effects of Spanish-English bilinguals' first-language syntactic knowledge on the guesses they make about the meanings of new words encountered in English contexts. Examines a particular type of transfer to understand the process of vocabulary acquisition in second-language readers. (48 references) (Author/CK)

Examines the influence of language differences on Los Angeles area businesses via a survey of South Central business owners after the Rodney King riots in 1992. For 67% of respondents, customers had trouble communicating their needs. Only 30% would be more comfortable doing business exclusively with people who speak the same language. (33…

Analyzes the narrative, descriptive, and evaluative structures of one person's two stories, drawn from oral proficiency interviews, about the same event told at the intermediate high and advanced levels on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) scale. The discourse analysis revealed that the second story builds upon the…

Describes a three-year plan for colleges and universities in which the Spanish program attempts to increase its course offerings and improve articulation within the institution. The program is designed to put into practice the goals of a regional collaborative project on articulation of which the university is an integral part. (six references)…

Describes and critiques a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded summer graduate program at the University of Minnesota for preservice and inservice teachers of French, German, and Spanish. The program combines a language immersion approach in content-based classes with a pedagogical component. (Author/JL)