The purpose of this study was to: (1) describe differences in performance by non-native learners of English, when writing in different genres; (2) determine communicative value of grammatical errors as judged by a panel of native speakers; and (3) demonstrate inconsistencies in native speaker judgment of error gravity. Subjects were 20…

Discussion of the role of pragmatics research in language teaching looks at the role such research should play in the language classroom, and the role of researcher, teacher, and teacher educator in making that connection. It is noted that pragmatics research has discovered a number of differences in the ways in which first- and second-language…

This paper explores the features of rhythm that make English difficult for speakers of Chinese and suggests some techniques for helping students speak English with an English rhythm. The focus is on information obtained during a workshop: the rhythmic differences between Chinese and English, word rhythm in English, and sentence rhythm in English.…

Language policy and language usage trends in Nigerian education are examined, particularly as they concern the role of Anglo-Nigerian Pidgin (ANP), an inter-ethnic lingua franca. Language policy and practice for official and native languages both before and since Nigerian independence are chronicled. Results of a survey of 240 individuals in six…

Foreign Language Exploratory or Foreign Language Experience (FLEX) programs offer one approach to initiating foreign language instruction for children. One survey reported that 41 percent of United States elementary schools offering language instruction had FLEX programs. Statistics on FLEX programs in middle schools are unavailable. Most FLEX…

A study applying schema theory to the teaching and learning of second language linguistic structures is reported. Subjects were students in the English language program of an Austrian university's school of business administration. The experimental groups received 8 hours of instruction in the schematic attributes of learning processes and then…

It is proposed that classroom collaboration has the potential to build a classroom learning community in which students turn to each other as resources and the teacher becomes one channel, among many, for learning. The demands that collaborative work places on students are examined, and the process of building a collaborative environment is…

This paper investigates the error analysis thought processes of foreign language learners regarding their written examples of the language under study, suggesting that consciousness plays a part in instructed second language acquisition. The study assumed that individual learners could offer insights into interim states of their developing grammar…

This paper summarizes the past, present, and future of Eurodisney in France from cultural awareness and cultural business ethics viewpoints, suggesting that although the French have not bought into the American dream that is Disney, they are so heavily involved in Eurodisney from a financial angle that they can do naught but continue to provide…

A study compared (1) data on rejections of advice by native and non-native speakers collected from natural conversation with (2) data collected from a discourse completion task (DCT). Subjects were students in an academic advising session (13 native speakers, 11 non-native speakers of English) who responded to a DCT and students (18 native…

National standards published in 1995 addressed the importance of foreign language education and identified five goal areas: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities. This study incorporated these five goals and examined the potential of electronic mail in foreign language learning. In addition, it looked at cultural…

Experiences of Bosnian adult refugees within the Swedish educational system raise questions of diversity and indications of institutionalized discrimination. Approaches to diversity within the education system reflect those approaches within the social system of the nation. Sweden is presently moving toward a uniform and more restrictive European…

The Center for Applied Linguistics has compiled these resources on the subjects of war trauma and working with refugees to guide refugee service providers and classroom teachers. The materials include background information about trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder and specific information about problems of refugees and victims of war trauma.…

A study investigated the role of pragmatics, the factors that govern choice of language in social interaction, on interpretation of elliptical verb phrases (VPs) in spoken English by learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Ellipsis requires the listener to recall the surface form of a presupposed element and to integrate it into the…

Based on a second language learning workshop that was a follow-up to the 1990 British conference, "Autonomy in Language Learning," at the Lane End conference center, this report covers the practical implications of the ideas that emerged at the conference. The continuum that encompasses learner autonomy and autonomous learning is…