This article discusses the incompatibility between the goal of communicative competence (defined more narrowly as minimal approximative communicative competence) and current practices of syllabus design, and suggests more relevant alternatives. Foreign language instruction is still dominated by the teaching of language structure for its own sake,…

This volume contains six essays on both theory and practical learning techniques for second language learning. In "Towards a Synthesization of Teaching Methodologies for TESOL," James W. Ney discusses synthesizing the audio-lingual approach and the cognitive-code theory of language learning. In "Should We Teach Children…

From a consideration of variability in language-learner and language-user data, the concept of proficiency is considered in relation to models of second and foreign language learning. Proficiency is defined in relation to four separate dimensions: grammatical well-formedness, speech-act rules, functional elaboration, and code diversity. This…

This report is a cross-linguistic study that compares the sequence of emergence of semantic relations in English with the sequence of emergence of these relations in the acquisition of American Sign Language. American Sign Language (ASL) differs from English in modality (it is a visual-gesture language rather than an auditory-vocal one) and in the…

CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME ARE THE REVISED TEXTS FOR PARTS THREE AND FOUR OF AN ESSENTIALLY AUTOINSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMING PROJECT ORIGINALLY ENTITLED "SPOKEN FRENCH." REVISIONS WERE MADE TO REMEDY SOME OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL WEAKNESSES DETECTED IN USING THE ORIGINAL RECORDED MATERIALS EXPERIMENTALLY AND TO EXTEND THE AUDIOLINGUAL OBJECTIVES…

FIVE RECENT STUDIES AIMED AT MEASURING THE AMOUNT OF TRANSFER-OF-TRAINING FROM SPEECH TO WRITING (AS DEMONSTRATED BY STUDENTS PREVIOUSLY CONDITIONED THROUGH AUDIOLINGUAL CLASSROOM DRILL) ARE EVALUATED IN THIS PAPER. FOLLOWING A REVIEW OF PRELIMINARY RESEARCH, THE METHODOLOGY USED TO CONDITION THE STUDENTS AND TO TEST FOR TRANSFER IS DESCRIBED AND…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 23 titles deal with the following topics: sex appropriate and sex inappropriate language; lexical retrieval and perceptual errors; naming deficits in anomia and aphasia; developmental discourse; pragmatic information and…

This paper investigates the development of negative Wh-questions in a four year old subject acquiring English as her L1. Spontaneous and elicited speech samples were collected over a period of 6 months. During the course of the study, the subject began to invert subject and auxiliary, and by the end of the study she was inverting correctly in 38%…

The rise of American English as the medium for exhange of scientific and technical information worldwide is a linguistic phenomenon. For some time, applied linguists in Britain have provided texts to meet the demand for English for special purposes and English for science and technology. Their works use a British form of language and cover British…

This selective bibliography is divided into 2 main sections. The first deals with Chinese-English contrastive studies and lists 8 books, or sections in books, and 19 journal articles. The second section deals with error analysis for Chinese speakers learning English and lists 4 articles. The entries range in date from 1948 to 1974 with the…

A third volume of a highly articulated set of language materials defines achievement level 2 in the control of Spanish syntax while providing descriptions and interrelationships of vital syntactic structures and expected student performance. The noun phrase, predicate phrase, verbal aspects, adverbials, relativization, noun modification,…

An operational definition of the standard for learner achievement at Level 2, with respect to the skills of reading and writing, was proposed for Spanish as one aspect of a research project. The method described, serving as the basis for articulation of level achievement, deals with general procedures, proposed operational definition of reading…

This comprehensive analysis of French teaching methodology reveals basic problems underlying the current philosophy of language learning, while presenting new ideas based on extensive research. Two books, "Active French; Dialogues" and "Active French: Foundations Course" (Books 1 and 2), which stress well specified learning objectives, were…

Test design and content and course design and content are mutually influential. In accordance with changing trends in foreign language instruction--individualized learning, independent study, small group instruction, peer teaching--testing should likewise be revamped to reinforce and inform the learning process. Tests must take into account…

This paper is an attempt to show what parameters come into play when dealing with the problem of difficulty in foreign language learning. After subjecting the hierarchy of difficulty set up by R.P. Stockwell and J.D. Bowen to a critical examination, the author discusses various parameters such as individual and national difficulties, the…