Examines the field of Spanish linguistics over 100 years, subdividing Spanish linguistics into several subdisciplines: historical grammar, descriptive phonetics, Spanish phonology, contrastive structures, descriptive grammar, Spanish syntax, specific Spanish dialectology, Spanish in Africa and Asia, sociolinguistics of Spanish-speaking societies,…

Discusses perspectives on teaching foreign languages, describing four models of instruction. Proposes the formulation of minimum requirements and the use of textbooks and handbooks for working with different models of instruction. Considers the problems to be addressed, such as developing a methodology for teaching in primary schools and teaching…

Describes computer-based placement tests developed at the second language institute at the University of Ottawa, Canada using Ficelle. Students in the French as a second language program were tested using either the computer-based test or a pencil-and-paper test. Statistical analysis indicated no significant differences between the two test…

Looks at the Quebecois TV show, "Un gars, Une fille" used in a university French course to teach the socio-cultural reality that underlies all linguistic utterances in a university-level French course. Attempts to identify what makes the show more authentic than videos and CD ROMs that accompany most language textbooks in French.…

Describes the design and implementation of a CD-ROM-based German exercise package for commercial distribution and a listening and culture package using interactive multimedia based on authentic German television programs. The project demonstrates how a set of specialized authoring tools can be brought to bear upon the real-world needs and…

Reviews the technical and legal issues surrounding the use of Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) and describes authoring possibilities that can simplify the ultimate delivery of interactive video materials to language learners. Details the process of creating a DVD title in a case study at Brigham Young University. (Author/VWL)

Investigated fourth-year university students perceptions of vocabulary learning strategies as affected by individual difference variables such as sex, Tawijihi grades, and accumulative average. The study consisted of English majors at Yarmouk University in Jordan. (Author/VWL)

Describes a collaborative upper level Latin literature course taught at a secondary school and a university that used a variety of technologies, including a MOO and e-mail. The design of this course on Plautus'"Aulularia" is discussed, including objectives, learning goals, and collaborative assignments. Argues that informed use of technology can…

Investigated the relative effects of two test taker characteristics--native language and learning experience--on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign English Placement Test. Subjects were 203 students. Background information was gathered through a questionnaire. Native language appeared more influential on test performance than learning…

Proposes, on the basis of a host of curricular factors, a stratification of foreign language programs in U.S. institutions of higher learning into two graded and curricularly distinctive phases. The initial phase would be comprised predominantly of nonmajors who enroll in beginning courses to satisfy a language requirement. The professional phase…

Reports on the introduction of an action research component into an existing graduate foreign language teaching methodology course for beginning foreign language teachers (graduate teaching assistants and graduate students) at the college level. Discusses the implementation, benefits, and caveats of such a project, illustrated with samples of…

Fifty-nine English-as-a-foreign-language students in Saudi Arabia took a cohesion test in which they identified four types of cohesive ties in a reading text, including conjunction, reference, substitution, and ellipsis. Incorrect responses were analyzed. It was found that substitution was the most difficult cohesive tie to process. (Author/VWL)

Examines attitudes of mainstream teachers to English-as-a-Second-Language learners in the central part of the United States. Based on results of a survey of 143 junior high/middle school mainstream teachers, multiple predictors were identified that were interpreted as indicators of exposure to cultural diversity. Argues for inclusion of explicit…

Interviewed teachers from around the world to examine a specific purpose (SP) versus general purpose (GP) distinction in their orientations to the work they do. The difference in orientation was signaled in the criteria the teachers use to assess students' writing. (Author)

Examines whether learners initiate attention to form, as requests for assistance, feedback on error, modeling, or repetitions, recasts, and requests for clarification. Results suggest that learners can and do attend to form, though relatively infrequently. The most frequent way they they do this is to request assistance from their teachers.…