The Technology Enhanced Accent Modification (TEAM) project created multimedia software to improve the oral proficiency of international teaching assistants (ITAs). Objectives were to: (1) develop reliable accent modification software that would operate on computers found at most colleges; (2) determine how TEAM-based accent modification…

This study offers a portrait of the schooling experiences of black South African student teachers. Approximately 1,000 students were involved in the study, which was conducted over 5 years. The project was designed to help the instructor examine curriculum studies courses for their ability to enable student teachers to reflect on their own…

A program designed to improve the oral second language skills of high school students in second-year Spanish is reported. Initial analysis attributed the students' low level of oral Spanish skills to lack of motivation and insufficient practice of oral language. Three major interventions were implemented: incorporation of more oral practice of…

Across the United States, most American Indian children speak English as a first language. This fact allows a unique strategy for teaching an indigenous language as a second language. In all indigenous language programs, formal introduction to linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, can provide methods to help children "unlearn" aspects…

This book is intended for graduate teaching assistants and undergraduate teacher education majors who might benefit from a directed exploration, reflection, and application of particular topics related to communicative language teaching and for practicing teachers who need a resource manual for developing tasks and materials for their classrooms.…

A study investigated whether or not second language (L2) learners who are exposed to naturalistic and/or mixed contexts (i.e., living and studying the language where it is the dominant language in use) appropriate nonverbal forms of communication, and specifically whether gestures are reconceptualized in the L2. Subjects were two…

This paper offers a collection of educational tools for those educators looking for a practical theory of second language acquisition. Educators working with English as a second language (ESL) learners should consider the following factors in trying to develop a working theory: (1) an understanding of what language is, classroom learning, the…

This encyclopedia of language teaching and learning is an authoritative handbook dealing with all aspects of this field of study. It has been produced specifically for language teaching professionals, but can also be used as a general reference work for academic studies at a postgraduate level. A comprehensive range of articles on contemporary…

This study explores the different meanings of "ahora" (now) and "ahorita" (right now) in Spanish usage by a migrant community of mushroom pickers in Mexico and the United States. Both terms are used as temporal expressions in Mexican Spanish spoken on both sides of the border. They are discourse markers. After studying groups…

This interview with Glenn H. Nordin, Assistant Director of Intelligence Policy (Language and Training), Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, explores in depth the officially perceived language needs of the U.S. military in the foreseeable future. Questions and answers include the following: How has the end of the Cold War affected…

This paper argues that Japanese education should place more emphasis on teaching students to write effectively in English. It notes that the Japanese Ministry of Education has put more emphasis in recent years in teaching students to listen and communicate orally in English. It is argued that in the age of the Internet, when so much information is…

This paper considers how teachers can deal with stereotypes in the classroom as they relate to foreign language learning goals, specifically the negative ethnic and cultural stereotypes held by Mexican university students about Americans and Canadians. It presents data concerning the emergence of stereotypes from various studies carried out in…

This exploratory study examines the efficacy of Focus on Form (i.e., brief instruction on linguistic forms while learners engage in meaning) at the pragmatic level. Specifically, comparing Focus on FormS (interactions followed by explicit debriefing on pragmatic forms) and Focus on Form (interactions followed by debriefing on meaning), the…

This document consists of three parts to help teachers and students to integrate technology into the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom--the facilitator's guide, participant's materials, and the participant's reference materials. The facilitator's guide is divided into three parts. Part one is a presentation guide providing step-by-step,…

This brief paper discusses the following: video as the core of 2 courses for Hausa; techniques employing new and old technologies for making these videos tools for total cultural immersion; and problems encountered and not always solved satisfactorily. The videotapes were recorded in Nigeria and cover a wide variety of speech styles and aspects of…