This paper investigates the potential relationship of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) to gesture and second language learning. It is asserted that the ZPD is both a tool and a result, not a tool for result; it is both product and process at the same time. The process of learning a new language/culture in the case of a person who is…

This study examined the perceptions of preservice teachers tutoring non-native English speakers in a local public school. A group of 14 predominantly female preservice teachers participated, nine white and five Hispanic. Participants completed interviews asking about their tutoring experiences. Results found two common themes: most participants…

Learning academic English is probably one of the surest, most reliable ways of attaining socioeconomic success in the United States today. Learners cannot function in school settings effectively without it. This variety of English entails the multiple, complex features of English required for success in public schooling and career advancement. It…

This unit was created as a result of a summer institute sponsored by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The Center's goal is to improve student learning of foreign languages in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). To this end, the Center provides professional support for foreign language…

At the 18th meeting of Ministerial Council on Education (MCEETYA) (12th-13th May 2005), Council urged the Australian Government to: (1) increase per capita assistance to ESL-NA students with high educational needs, in particular, refugees and humanitarian entrants; (2) provide a new per capita allocation so that specific ethnic and cultural issues…

This study examines how young second language learners acquire academic language. Among the main language groups represented were Punjabi, Hindi, Tamil, Estonian, Serbian, Arabic as well as 23 other language groups. I monitored over 75 students, in grades 1, 2 and 4. I was interested in exploring what strategies best promoted coherence in…

This monograph presents data and conclusions derived from one phase of an investigation of objectives and methods in the teaching of modern foreign languages in high schools and colleges. A committee of specialists operating under the auspices of the American Council of Education and with financial assistance received from the Carnegie Corporation…

English grammar, as a formal subject, distinct from other branches of instruction in the vernacular, made but sporadic appearances in the American schools before 1775. After the Revolution its rise was extremely rapid. English grammar gained momentum as the hold of Latin grammar weakened, and by the end of the first quarter of the nineteenth…

This bulletin examines the current status of Soviet training programs for Africa: the training of personnel from Africa in the U.S.S.R; Soviet study and research in the U.S.S.R. on Africa; and training programs in Africa connected with Soviet developmental projects. The increasing Soviet penetration of Africa has considerable import for the free…

This bulletin informs teachers about opportunities to teach overseas under the Educational Exchange Program, conducted by the Department of State. These include teacher interchange matchings, one-way teaching assignments for American and foreign teachers here and abroad, and summer seminars for teachers of modern foreign languages, the classics,…

Analysis of error patterns in a test taken by 698 Finnish university students shows errors are made in this declining order of frequency: grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and use. More talkative students were proportionately more proficient per utterance, and higher proficiency also correlated with sex (female) and high matriculation test…

Examines the loss in popularity of contrastive linguistics as a method for explaining second language learning systems, and calls for a turn to pragmatics in language teaching. (AM)

Describes features of articulatory shortcuts discovered among middle class, educated native speakers of Spanish in Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. It is maintained that these features should be taught to students of Spanish in order that they may understand colloquial Spanish speech. (AM)

This article discusses a program entitled "Extended Reading Comprehension Skills through Language Transfer," whose goals were to expand and increase English skills through the study of the Latin language and Rome's culture. This program was implemented in Los Angeles based on the Philadelphia program pioneered by Masciantonio. (Author/CFM)

Two Navajo men reflect on their quest for literacy and their struggle with cultural maintenance and acculturation. Jimmy Eltsosie, who has lived on the Navajo Reservation all of his life, realized he had to learn English to survive in both worlds. Phil Hale, who grew up in California, learned Navajo in order to live and work on the reservation.…