A discussion of the education of West Indian immigrant students in the New York City public schools focuses on identification and assessment of this population's needs. It is noted that West Indian students represent the fastest-growing immigrant population in the city, but no educational policy has been established in the city or state to address…

Language testing historians have tended to ignore a significant period in the evolution of language tests, the years 1883-1929. In the earliest years, testing focused on knowledge about, not of, the language and reflected the teaching of Latin and Greek more than that of living languages. Grammatical formalism and translation were emphasized, and…

The role of learning strategies in independent learning, particularly second language learning, is discussed. It is argued that "learning to learn" is a necessary, although not sufficient, condition for independent learning. It is also not innate, but must be taught. The learner must learn to define his objectives, accomplish them, evaluate…

This article examines the phenomenon of fossilization in second language (SL) learning and instruction, discussing this process as a form of simplification. Fossilization occurs when particular linguistic forms become permanently established in the interlanguage of SL learners in a form that is deviant from the target language norm and that…

A case study examined the similarities and differences in the background characteristics, the nature and causes of the English language-based problems, and the coping strategies of two foreign students at Indiana University, Bloomington. Subjects were selected because they represented two different nationalities (Malaysian and Indonesian),…

This article discusses the system of reference as one of the linguistic systems operating in English texts. It introduces reference systems as systems that code cohesive dependency relationships between entities in texts. References in texts are treated as ways of introducing and keeping track of text participants. The cohesive operation of…

According to the linguistic theory of "natural order," eight English morphemes have been ranked in an invariant order of difficulty for learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Pedagogical implications of this theory have led to the "natural approach" as a comprehensive second language teaching methodology. A case study that suggests the…

Language qualifications and graduates are likely to be in demand in the 1990s and in the future. In response to this demand, this book provides information and advice to sixth formers (British students aged 16 or more) who wish to extend their study of languages and to equip themselves with marketable linguistic skills. The book will also provide…

The new secondary education curriculum in Malaysia, which uses an approach integrating skill development, content knowledge, and values, is examined from the perspective of language teaching and learning. Specific attention is given to the ways that curriculum and materials design can contribute to overall student development, the primary…

The National Core French Study had the objectives of defining and developing four syllabuses and assessing their applicability in Core French classes in Canadian elementary and secondary schools. The general language education syllabus discussed here is intended to improve the psychological conditions for second language learning by adding to…

The process of acquisition of three syntactic structures in Engish (i.e., yes-no questions, wh-questions, and negation) was studied. The subjects were 30 school children whose native language as well as medium of instruction was Malayalam, one of the four dominant Dravidian languages. The children were in the second, fourth, and sixth year of…

The fourth phase of a longitudinal study focusing on the cognitive and language development of children in a primary-grade Spanish immersion program (SIP) is reported. Subjects were the remaining 13 members of an SIP cohort beginning in 1987, 15 members of a standard program comparison classroom, 18 members of another class in the 1987 SIP cohort,…

The purpose of this report is to present work done in the language module projects of the English and German degrees at Roskilde University Center (Denmark). Project work is the essential structuring ingredient of foreign language degrees at the Center. The collection of papers included in this issue attempts to provide information on what has…

A microethnographic study and intervention were conducted in a mixed-age preschool classroom with 3- to-5-year-old native speakers of English, Khmer, and Spanish. All were learning English and had native-language support. In the study's first phase, the language of five children was audiotaped during play time. In the second phase, the whole…

Research was conducted to consider in detail the intergenerational dimensions of bilingualism in the Puerto Rican community in New York City via the children of adult immigrants who had abandoned their native language usage and who later revived it. The issues in focus are language choice, language change, language use, and language learning. The…