Examines the relationships between the first (L1), second (L2), and third (L3) language in immersion programs for Russian-speaking students in Israel. Two parallel and similar immersion programs, which were carried out for the same population, but with different target languages (L2 Hebrew and L3 English), are described. Presents tentative…

Focuses on Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' knowledge of the locative alternation and its relationship to theories of language-particular and language-universal properties. Results are discussed with reference to universality of linking, to the transfer of argument structure, and to Pinker's learnability theory. (Author/VWL)

Argues that abstract, figurative senses of polysemous words are better retained when learners are given core senses as cues, because providing a core sense helps learners develop a "precise elaboration." Results of a series of vocabulary studies involving Dutch learners of English show that providing a core sense results in better guessing and…

Examines the language attitudes of parents and secondary school students who are participating in programs where both official languages of Paraguay--Spanish and Guarani--are taught. Studies the relationship between linguistic attitudes and usage. (Author/VWL)

Examined the use of the mutual exclusivity constraint in naming objects among young children monolingual in English or bilingual in English/Urdu or in English/Greek. The study used three tests of the constraint: disambiguation, rejection and restriction. Findings revealed that bilingual children used the constraint to a lesser extent than…

Aims to put the body of research on Swedish as a second language (SSL) into one coherent framework and to test the predictions deriving from processability theory for Swedish against this empirical database. Surveys the 14 most prominent research projects on SSL, covering wide areas of syntax and morphology in longitudinal and cross-sectional…

Describes the use Asante-Twi proverbs to teach about Akan culture in a beginning Twi classroom. Provides activities that have been used successfully with learners. (Author/VWL)

Presents a multimedia software package for teaching Indonesian listening comprehension and culture and reports the findings of an evaluative study of learner use of the software package. Asserts that there was a clear increase in comfort and confidence levels among learners using technology and high proficiency learners showed higher awareness of…

Examines language use and language preference of children aged 6 to 15 and their parents at the University of Botswana. Results indicate that the majority of the children speak Setswana and English, despite the fact that they come from different language groups. Language preferences of children differ from that of parents. Shows the growth of…

Provides insights on how to assess a whole language foreign language class (WLFLC) and to field test qualitative research methods for a WLFLC. The Hebrew language class was assessed through analysis of semistructured interviews with four students, students' reflective mid-term papers and final class evaluations, and teacher journal notes. (VWL)

Outlines writing theories proposed by researchers that have contributed to current second language teaching and learning classroom methodologies. Drawing on the insights gained from these theories, one English-as-a-Foreign-Language freshman composition classroom learning experience in doing practical research with first language Arabic nonnative…

Determined language proficiency among multilingual Indo-Fijian primary school children who have the languages, Fiji-Hindi, Standard Hindi, Urdu, English, Fijian, and Fijian English in their speech repertoire. Identifies the variables that affect multilingual proficiency in this group and determines whether classroom practice reflects educational…

Describes the development of a task-based test, Taaltoets Instroom Beroepsopleiding (TIBO), designed to measure whether nonnative adult speakers of Dutch posses the level of Dutch required to enter vocational training in the industrial sector. Focuses on three tensions that had to be considered throughout the process of test development.…

Examines the effects of a time lag before introducing Chinese characters into the elementary Chinese language curriculum. Results found that college students who were provided a three-week time lag were better able to discriminate phonetically and transcribe unfamiliar Mandarin syllables and were more fluent in spoken Mandarin than students who…

Investigation of how 19 adult males listened to and recognized unknown foreign languages (Farsi, Punjabi, Spanish, Indonesian, Arabic, Urdu) indicated that the untrained listeners made complex judgments in describing, transcribing, and identifying phonetic, segmental, suprasegmental, and other impressionistic language details. (Author/CB)