The fact that some people learn a second language more easily than others has prompted numerous studies designed to link one factor or another with successful language learning. This work examines a large number of these studies to assess the importance of various factors involved in language learning. The influencing factors suggested are grouped…

This presentation gives a general review of the Modern Languages Project and outlines tasks of the working groups during the conference at which the report is presented. Underlying the project is a conviction that the ability to communicate freely with other human beings is a basic human right; therefore, people must be afforded the opportunity to…

This paper discusses the kinds of vocabulary items retained by a group of native German speakers in the context of an English language proficiency examination. Its main purpose is to indicate the kind of information that can be gathered using cloze procedures, with the aim to integrate this information into further learning strategies for the…

This is a report on a project established to develop a "common yardstick" to describe performance in one or more language skills. Descriptive scales for oral interaction were prepared as well as a general outline of scale characteristics for listening comprehension and reading. Experts in the field reviewed the project proposal and recommendations…

This paper describes how two four-year-old children who are becoming bilingual (Spanish and English) make requests in the classroom. Emerging patterns include: (1) a tendency to rely more heavily on requests for action and attention then requests for information and permission, (2) a tendency to make requests of peers more frequently than of…

This guide discusses material selection criteria for those who teach English reading skills to adult non-English speakers. It is argued that in order to achieve a grasp of meaning in a second language, the student must have some experience with the culture from which that meaning arises. For the selection of material, a checklist of American…

This program of instruction is designed to prepare Peace Corps volunteers to communicate in Tunisian Arabic. The book is divided into 30 units with every fifth unit a review. The basic format for each unit includes the following items: (1) introduction consisting of dialogs, texts, and/or pictures; (2) questions on the dialog or text; (3) notes on…

College students in introductory foreign language courses (French, German, and Spanish) were the subjects of a study to determine what if any correlation exists between ability and motivation on the one hand and achievement on the other in learning a second language. The ability measure (predicted grade point average) was found to correlate…

Intended for students, teachers, parents, and administrators in charge of educating bilingual children, the monograph provides a summarized account of the information available regarding theories and research in second language acquisition, divided into four chapters. Chapter I is an historical overview of language acquisition theories,…

These lessons in Chichewa, the official language of Malawi, aim to enable the student to achieve working competency in the language in the shortest time possible. The "A" lessons in the book present basic grammatical patterns through explicit discussions of the patterns involved. The "B" lessons present language in use. They…

This document is the result of a project commissioned by the Council of Europe to produce a system of units in foreign language instruction for adults. The "threshold level" is conceived as the compilation of knowledge and skills a person would need in order to communicate simply but effectively in a foreign environment. It is not limited to…

This book is a response to the recognition that the achievement of the threshold level of second language proficiency is for many adults an overly ambitious objective. The degree of communicative competence that will be imparted by the waystage approach will be about halfway between zero and the threshold level. This degree of competence will…

This handbook is a collection of readings intended to acquaint Peace Corps volunteers with the geography of Botswana, and the culture and daily living customs of the people. The introduction provides techniques to help students use the readings to improve their speaking skills. The first section of the text, the "OXFAM Section," contains…

Recent studies in productive phonology among immigrants have supported the case for the existence of a critical or sensitive period in language acquisition. The present study proposes that the case for a sensitive period would be further strengthened by the discovery of comparable age effects for other linguistic abilities such as listening…

The interdependence of the creative process and the communication process is examined. Artistic creativity, humanistic creativity, and creativity in the psychological laboratory are briefly examined, and Guilford's structure-of-intellect (SI) model is analyzed. Instead of categorizing people according to their general intellectual ability, the SI…