Proposes strategies for reducing foreign language anxiety in the classroom: (1) discuss feelings with instructor and other students; (2) relax, exercise, and eat well; (3) prepare for and attend every class; (4) keep foreign language class in perspective; (5) seek opportunities to practice the language and accept errors are a part of the learning…

Presents the results of four versions of an English-as-a-Second-Language listening test: one with questions before, one with questions after, one with questions sandwiched between two hearings and one without questions. Subjects completed questionnaires and wrote a free recall. Results from the recall were inconclusive, but in the tests, the…

Notes that teachers of German can use "Deutsche Welle tv" broadcasts on cable to create content-based teaching modules for beginning students of German. The article outlines strategies for developing video units focusing on various topics to be integrated into existing language programs. (Six references) (Author/CK)

Discusses the importance of including bilingual English/Spanish picture books in library collections, introduces some recent titles, and describes some programming ideas. Topics include second language study, children teaching English to Spanish-speaking parents, cultural studies, and bilingual presentations. (LRW)

High-ability (n=97) and average-ability students (n=84) were asked to read a Spanish passage on a computer and use glosses provided for certain words to aid in comprehension or create glosses using a Spanish-English dictionary and annotation software (experimental task). High-ability students performed significantly better after the experimental…

Evaluates differences between immersion and non-immersion university-level students' willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, perceived competence, and frequency of communicating . Also examines elements of integrative motivation. Differences between immersion and non-immersion groups are observed in the communication-related…

Examined whether Chinese is used in tertiary-level English classrooms in China, and if so, how often and for what purposes. Also examined the attitudes of the students and teachers toward using Chinese in the EFL classroom. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on testing writing in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language classroom. Describes a study comparing students' expectations of grades with their actual grades earned for essays assigned in freshman English classes at the Lebanese American University. (Author/VWL)

Based on positive findings of previous research with English-as-a-Foreign-Language learners, an integrated reading and writing course for first year Arab EFL students was designed at Beit Berl College, a 4-year teacher training college in Israel.Describes the course objectives, reading and writing requirements, in-class activities, and instructor…

Describes a successful early start, long sequence Japanese foreign language in the elementary school (FLES) program that was identified as one of seven model programs in a national project funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Highlights literacy instruction in Japanese, student assessment, language camps, visits to Japan, parent…

Separates the effects of prior knowledge and topic interest on second language reading comprehension. English-as-a-Second-Language students in an English for academic purposes program read passages and took multiple-choice comprehension tests on topics for which they had all four possible combinations of high and low topic interest and high and…

This follow-up study of a classroom experiment with university English-as-a-Second-Language students that demonstrated incidental acquisition of new lexical knowledge through the reading of thematically-related texts explores how vocabulary knowledge may be acquired as a by-product of reading for comprehension. Findings are interpreted in terms of…

Considers the role of instruction, second language (L2) input, first language (L1) transfer, and universal grammar in development of L2 morphosyntactic knowledge. Specifically investigates the acquisition of the Spanish morpheme "se" by English-speaking adult learners. (Author/VWL)

Investigates the effects of awareness, or lack thereof, on 32 adult second or foreign language learners' subsequent intake and written production of targeted Spanish morphological forms. Think-aloud protocol data were used to measure awareness or lack of it, and morphological learning was assessed by the learners' performances on two postexposure…

Investigated Japanese students' first language (L1) writing experience and instruction received in high school in order to help their university English-as-a-Second-Language writing teachers understand their needs. Analysis of interview data suggests ways teachers can draw on students' strengths in terms of their literacy background to help them…