Describes portfolio development as it is carried out in one English-as-a-Second-Language classroom. This includes essays required in the complete portfolios, rationale for each essay, and arrangement of essays within the portfolio. Shows the process by which students develop their portfolios, including outline, rough draft, peer comments, and…

The Voice of America English broadcasts have become a very convenient and accessible resource for Chinese students to learn English in China. Discusses one third-year listening course for English majors where VOA news items have been used and have proved very effective in developing students' listening skills. (Author/VWL)

Discusses strategies that can be used in the classroom for developing critical awareness while reading. Describes strategies that can be used at the pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading stages, with a focus on both language and content. (Author/VWL)

Describes two activities that were used to train Chinese teachers of English participating in the college English teacher-training program at Nanjing University: A scavenger hunt and production of a yearbook. Teachers in language schools or training programs can adapt both activities to fit their particular contexts.(Author/VWL)

Proposes the use of simulations to develop oral-language skills in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language classroom. Simulations allow students to interact in meaningful and realistic contexts and generate their own discourse. (Author/VWL)

Compares two Web-based systems. The Japanese writing computer-assisted language-learning system, the T system, enables learners to key-in sentences freely, detects learners' errors and displays appropriate feedback messages to guide learners to correct errors themselves. The M system enables learners to input their answer from a multiple selection…

Presents a detailed study of the second-language (L2) acquisition of English aspect by native speakers of Slavic languages. Results bring new evidence to bear on the theoretical choice between direct access to the L2 value or starting out the process of acquisition with the first-language value of a parameter, supporting the latter view.…

Investigated the effects of three aural-advance organizers on student comprehension of second-language (L2) videotaped materials. Subjects were 160 low-intermediate Chinese students of English in Taiwan. Suggests that in preparing advance organizers for English-as-a-Foreign-Language students, teachers should focus on new words rather than on video…

Describes an exercise of parallel text analysis or production in German as a foreign language, which demonstrates to the students that contextual factors influence the selection of specific variants. The variants must be chosen out of so-called macroprogrammes. A macroprogramme lists the linguistic and extralinguistic means a language offers to…

Investigated what English-language-learning classroom activities tertiary-level learners liked, and then compared these preferences with the activity preferences that teachers thought the learners held. Results show teachers were able to gauge their learners' preferences with accuracy for 54% of the activities, and that there was no clear pattern…

Discusses why culture should be taught in the foreign language classroom. Focuses on survival and cultural proficiency, background knowledge, the elements of culture that should be taught and how, the goals of teaching culture, conventions and social amenities, connotation, integrating culture in the foreign language curriculum, and techniques and…

Conducted a pilot study with learners of Spanish who had completed a 25-week basic language training at the Defense Language Institute's Foreign Language Center. Compared the listening and reading proficiency of 10 officers with 44 enlisted personnel, using t-tests and analysis of variance (with the Defense Language Proficiency Test as a…

English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction is one of the many services offered at community colleges. ESL programs contribute to the mission of colleges by serving nonnative English speakers in their communities. ESL students seek English instruction as a means to gain access into higher education, to improve their job skills, or to develop…

Reports results of a case study of the implementation of a set of culturally-based computer programs designed to accompany a college level 1 French text. Findings indicated that understanding college level students' beliefs about language learning is helpful if innovative language programs are to be successful. (Author/AEF)

Investigates learner-centered and teacher-centered discourse in interactive exchanges between teachers and learners in the second-language (L2) classroom. The analysis of interaction shows that learner-centered discourse provides opportunities for negotiation of form, content, and classroom rules of behavior, which creates an environment favorable…