The articles and presentations in this publication relate to the general theme of the 1982 Northeast Conference, the foreign language teacher as a lifelong learner. The concept that in the best teachers learning and teaching form a progressive continuum, and that learning and teaching occur simultaneously is the basic assumption underlying all the…

Subjects 9 to 15 years old were divided into four age levels by 18-month increments to compare learning disabled and normal students on indexes of both oral and written language. Four questions guided the inquiry: (1) Does the syntactic development of oral language differ at the age levels measured? (2) What is the trend of syntactic development…

This study examines the incidence and character of conditional statements ("if...then") in the spontaneous speech of young children. Twenty-four pairs of siblings, ranging in age from 2.1 years to 7.3 years, were observed and recorded while interacting in their homes for a period of 1 hour. Sixty-nine statements including "if"…

The following articles on bilingualism and bilingual education are included: "The Lessons from Two Decades of Bilingual Theory and Practice of Bilingual Education" (Inclan); "Social and Psychological Aspects of Language Use by Bilingual Children" (Walcer and Rodriguez-Brown); "Psychological Aspects of Bilingualism and…

Because it generally took over an hour to administer the Porch Index of Communicative Ability (PICA), a shorter but comparable version of the test was developed. The original test was designed to quantify aphasic patients' ability level on common communicative tasks and consisted of 18 ten-item subtests. Each item resulted in a proficiency rating,…

THE EFFECT OF EXPOSURE TO FRENCH IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES (FLES) ON LATER LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AND PERFORMANCE IN FRENCH COURSES IN HIGH SCHOOL WAS EVALUATED. ONE GROUP OF 17 HAD BEEN GIVEN ABOUT 1 HOUR A WEEK OF AUDIOLINGUAL TRAINING BEGINNING IN GRADE 3. THE OTHER GROUP OF 15 BEGAN FRENCH IN GRADE 9. BOTH GROUPS WERE ADMINISTERED THE MLA…

This discussion shows that "authentic documents" are a basic tool for the acquisition of communicative competence in a second language. An authentic document is a sort of photograph of discourse produced at a given time and in a given place. Like a cliche, it has its own existence. Two reasons for choosing authentic documents in second language…

The verbal behavior of three children was sampled. The samples were analyzed to obtain a picture of three stages of the children's language development, specifically the interrogative structures. Each stage was about 4- or 5-months long, starting at the 18th to 28th month, depending upon the child's level of linguistic ability. The interrogative…

This guide for study abroad is designed for American college students, and addresses the following issues: (1) the differences between American and foreign university systems and the lack of language proficiency in American students wishing to study abroad; (2) the alternatives to enrolling in a foreign university; (3) the advantages of American…

In this report, an analysis is made of the Title 1 project of the Lorain City Schools in Northern Ohio. The language growth of an experimental group of 30 disadvantaged first graders, who had spent 45 minutes each day in a special language experience classroom, was analyzed using oral language recordings and extensive language tests in order to…

Twenty-three German-English bilingual boys and girls, ranging from grades three to six in Saskatchewan's schools, were used in this study which sought to investigate their reading behavior when reading English passages. The Individual Reading Inventory, administered in both languages, indicated that comprehension after oral and silent reading in…

This paper discusses some of the educational potential of psycholinguistic research. The first area discussed is the educational implications of the human capacity for acquiring language. Studies cited cover topics related to the universality of language acquisition, children's mastery of basic grammatical devices, neurophysiological states of…

Two curriculum strategies were implemented and assessed in an effort to increase the bidialectal proficiency of fifth grade speakers of nonstandard Negro dialect. It was hypothesized that (1) children exposed to the curriculum strategies will show increased proficiency in their use of standard English; (2) children thus exposed will maintain…

Details a program of intensive language learning at Kenston (Ohio) High School that begins with a two-and-one-half-hour-a-day class and ends with a three-week homestay abroad on school time. The approach involves using foreign language for communicating about matters relevant to the students combined with a no-grade, no-fail system. (Author/EJS)

Reports the results of a study which sought to investigate the validity of the oral interview in testing language proficiency, in particular that of adult students of English as a Second Language. (Author/AM)