TO DETERMINE WHETHER SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES EXIST IN SKILL PERFORMANCE AS A RESULT OF HEAD START EXPERIENCE AND TO DETERMINE WHETHER THESE DIFFERENCES EXIST BETWEEN TWO ETHNIC GROUPS, 17 ANGLO-AMERICAN AND 62 MEXICAN-AMERICAN CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN WERE PRE-TESTED AND POST-TESTED DURING THE SUMMER OF 1965 IN CONNECTION WITH SIX-WEEK…

THE BASIC CONCEPTS USED IN DEVELOPING THE LANGUAGE AND READING EDUCATION PROGRAM WERE--(1) ALL HUMAN ORGANISMS ARE ESSENTIALLY ALIKE AND THEREFORE MAN'S BASIC NEEDS ARE THE SAME, (2) FUNDAMENTAL LIKENESSES EXIST IN ALL CULTURES, (3) CHILDREN FIRST INTRODUCED TO THE DIMENSIONS OF THEIR OWN CULTURE ARE READY TO MOVE TOWARD UNDERSTANDING THE OTHER…

WHEN CHILDREN ENTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, THEY POSSESS A LANGUAGE SYSTEM WHICH HAS BEEN INTUITED FROM WHAT THEY HEAR AND WHICH CAN PRODUCE FOR THEM AN INFINITE NUMBER OF SENTENCES REFLECTING EITHER STANDARD OR NONSTANDARD DIALECTS OF ENGLISH. THE ELEMENTARY TEACHER CAN EQUIP THOSE WHO SPEAK A DIVERGENT ENGLISH DIALECT WITH ANOTHER, MORE SOCIALLY…

The goal of integrating coping skills into the English as a second language (ESL) curriculum is to enable adults to use language in the real world. To accomplish this goal, two kinds of input are needed: (1) comprehensive knowledge about the workings of American English, and (2) accurate information about the language contexts in which adults need…

A literature survey to determine problems American Indians experience with English focused on problems solvable through computer presentation of materials. Recommendations included practice in selected minimally contrasting vowel pairs/consonant pairs, final consonants/consonant clusters, irregular plural nouns, verb tense forms, determiners,…

Examines an interlingual subtitling course for Welsh-English transfer designed to provide professional capability and developed over 10 delivery cycles. Analysis of student performance on course indicates the need for regular practice to maintain capability and the possibility of developing an individual style. (14 references) (Author/CK)

This study of 20 mothers and their fluent children (ages 3-5) found no significant differences between the effects of instructions to slow maternal speech rate and instructions to slow and simplify maternal speech. Children's speech rate and language complexity did not parallel maternal adjustments, which is problematic for parental involvement in…

Investigates the role of primary linguistic data in the acquisition of linguistic competence. The study examines the knowledge of adverb placement of francophone students learning English as a Second Language (ESL) one year after their exposure to a flood of data on adverb placement in English. Results indicate no change in the subjects'…

A study was planned to generate a model for testing second language education that would incorporate task types to allow the display of fluency. It is argued that the display of oral fluency can be used as a selection criterion for inclusion of test items in multitask or portfolio assessment. The following three research questions were formulated:…

One teacher's experience in providing individualized instruction in English to a manager in the German coal mining industry is reported. The highly motivated manager required specialized skills in English for communicating with foreign visitors who were either members of the industry or lay people. The manager brought with him to the first meeting…

A study was conducted that was designed to determine if experienced ESL (English as a second language) teachers, working in pairs, can reach the same judgments regarding the oral proficiency of non-native speakers of English and to determine the reliability of such judgments. In addition, the question of whether different sets of judges rate…

Presented are background and academic performance data for one cohort of foreign undergraduates who entered the University of Washington (UW) as new students, those 336 entrants in fall 1978. Initially, the total group was subdivided on the basis of whether English was the "mother tongue" of the student's home country (26 percent came…

Book four, part one, of an intermediate-advanced level German refresher course for college students is presented. The volume consists of 25 lessons of text material and 50 prerecorded tapes. A typical lesson with its two accompanying tapes is made up of interrogation, military terminology drill, and a comprehension test. The materials of the first…

This report presents the findings of a survey carried out in 1970 on nearly 200 degree students in England and Wales studying German as their main subject. The objectives of the survey were to: (1) determine the ranges of language proficiency attained by British graduates in German at various universities and other colleges; (2) interpret these…

This study explores the role of the language learning situation by comparing the speech of children in an immersion program, children learning a second language in a natural setting, and native French children. Three groups of children participated in the study: (1) 39 children (Grades K, 1, 3, 5) in a French immersion program in the U.S.; (2) 13…