Quotations from immigrants to Canada are used to illustrate some of the processes of second language learning within a very different culture: awareness of the environment's newness, first impressions, sense of nationality, broken images, initial confusion and bewilderment, concepts of nearness and remoteness, gradual understanding, and emotional…

Responding to O. Weininger's concern about Early French Immersion (EFI) programs, the author declares that evaluations from all over Canada have shown that EFI students achieve high levels of French proficiency at no apparent academic cost. Other objections to Weininger's conclusions are also raised. (PP)

Presents the theory that to understand himself/herself in humanity, the college student must encounter cultural diversity on the campus through language, sharing of sub-cultures and the presence of diverse cultures. The college degree is not the end goal but establishes the need for life-long learning and growth. (RC)

Discusses the active contribution a learner/user must make in using a dictionary and breaks the look-up process into seven main steps. (EKN)

The six-week immersion Summer Language Bursary Program is designed for post-secondary students wishing to study English or French as a second language. A two-year evaluation of students immediately after and eight months after indicated students had improved oral-aural language skills and increased knowledge of the second culture. (Author/BRR)

Discusses the amount of influence that a learner's native language has on the acquisition of a second language. Suggests that some important properties of a learner's interlanguage (IL) can be predicted, as shown by the different IL rules that Cantonese and Japanese use in dealing with English word-final voice contrasts. (Author/MES)

Selected language acquisition research findings are examined in the light of the language teacher's daily needs. Research results are reported that provide an empirical basis for selecting and grading materials, determining skills to be taught and their order of presentation, deciding on classroom presentation and procedures, and formulating…

Summarizes a study of advanced ESL university students from eight first-language backgrounds and discusses the proficiency differences found between several groups in processing two types of information patterns in written English. Suggests possible variables in cognitive strategies and skills related to the students' different cultural/linguistic…

Suggests and gives examples of how a few advanced skills and concepts are related to successful reading and writing and can be introduced in low-level ESL classes. Examples include generality-specificity distinction, relevance-irrelevance distinction, underlining and making notes, paraphrasing, and summarizing. This conceptually integrated…

Ethnographic examination of the English-dominant culture in the United States and how Hispanics are affected. Through several vignettes, reveals that the civil rights of Hispanics are violated because of cultural differences. (DA)

Explains that reading English among Scientists is almost universal, however, there are enormous problems with spoken English. Advocates the use of Esperanto as a viable alternative, and as a language requirement for graduate work. (GA)

Presents study conducted to determine whether sentence combining approach would increase rate of written syntactic development of college students of French, German, and Spanish. Results show it is effective for teaching some aspects of writing to intermediate foreign language students. (BK)

Describes a study designed to examine native speakers' reactions to errors contained in compositions written by advanced Spanish students, as a measure of error seriousness and a guide for selective correction. Suggests that errors interfering with comprehension should be eliminated first, followed by those that elicit negative reactions from…

Describes a Trinity College (Dublin) training program for language teachers based on a foreign language learning experience, in this case attendance at a 12-week course in beginning Russian. Discusses course design and trainees' course evaluations, drawing from comments contained in their class journals and final reports. (MES)

A student survey indicating interest in second language learning is discussed, as well as the success of an "assisted self-taught" approach to uncommonly taught languages at the University of Aston, Birmingham. (AM)