A study of the "silent period" in second-language learning focused on behavior of a 6-year-old Polish child shortly after immigration, in interaction with American children, bilingual Polish-American children, and another recent English-learner. Comparing play environments allowed identification of characteristics of interaction with…

Presents nine tips for planning effective second-language writing lessons. Tips are based on three principles (writing is a means of communication, writing is a process, and eliciting oral or written production of foreign language varies according to the degree of guidance teachers give to students). The paper offers six sample writing lessons for…

One Israeli elementary school created and implemented the idea of combining communication studies and English lessons in sixth grade. After each textbook unit, they taught one communications studies topic, choosing several essential words for each subject and teaching them as vocabulary items. The program taught students to be more aware of what…

Describes the Speaking Test, which forms part of the revised First Certificate of English (FCE) examination of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. Discusses key revisions, including use of paired-testing format, and notes the role of the oral examiners. Considers why the new design provides improvements in the assessment of…

A study investigated, within a cognitive attentional framework, whether amount (single/multiple) and type (teacher-centered/learner-centered) of exposure to the same morphological information had positive effects on first-semester adult learners' second language development of morphological forms, and whether there is any differential performance…

Using the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) observation theme, this study compares the second-language-learning environments of elementary-level students of French in four submersion and four immersion classrooms in Montreal, Canada. Results indicate clear differences between the two environments. (Author/VWL)

Investigated how students' perceptions of teachers' communicative style related to students' extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, examining links between these variables and various language-learning outcomes (effort, anxiety, and language competence). Students in a French immersion course completed questionnaires. Perceptions of teacher's…

Reviews interlanguage pragmatics studies with a focus on learning in a liberal sense; in addition to studies with an explicit focus on development, investigations that examine the effect of proficiency as an independent variable on pragmatic performance are also considered. Two lines of inquiry are suggested for further research. (Author/VWL)

Analyzed development of past tense verbal morphology in second-language Spanish among 20 college-level native-English speakers. The study was based on the analysis of oral movie narratives collected at two different times, two months apart.(VWL)

Testing and assessment in English-for-Academic-purposes (EAP) contexts has traditionally been carried out as a needs analysis of learners or a content analysis of courses. This article reassesses this approach to the development and validation of EAP tests on the basis of a theoretical model and recent research into content specificity. (VWL)

Salutes various pioneers in the field of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education who have helped shape the field from its inception in this country. The group includes researchers, innovators, administrators, and teacher trainers who have worked in the field for 25 years or more. The article offers brief biographies and each person's advice…

Describes a small-scale study into learners' attributions for success and failure in learning French. The study investigated the way in which learners conceptualize the notion of doing well, together with perceived reasons for successes and failures. Interviews were conducted with students (10-15 years of age) who were learning French in the…

Investigates the effect of subtitled television programs on Dutch elementary school children's foreign-language acquisition. Findings indicate that of three experimental conditions--English television program with and without subtitles, and a Dutch television program (control)--vocabulary acquisition and English word recognition were highest in…

Investigated whether beginning adult learners, given auditory stimuli, were equally likely to represent French gender subclasses using phonological, morphosyntactic, and/or semantic representations. Data from adult English speakers learning patterned French and translation equivalent lists indicated that the construct of input for gender learning…

One university's business college implemented a program, in the context of a business-related curriculum, to help international graduate students acquire academic writing skills necessary to fulfill their writing requirements. They formed a partnership with the linguistics program and developed a course, professional writing for business…