Investigates the language use and literacy practices of 36 children from a Gujarati- and Urdu-speaking Muslim community in Northeast London. These experiences are explored in the children's three-generation families, in the community, and in school interviews, recordings, and observations. (Author/VWL)

Reports on a study that examined the extent to which learners can make explicit first language rules that appear to influence their second language performance. The learners were 11- and 12-year-old francophone students learning English in intensive communicative English-as-a-Second-Language classes in Quebec. (Author/VWL)

Argues that English teachers' use of popular culture is key to effective teaching and learning in the secondary school English-as-a-foreign-language classroom. By incorporating popular culture into meaningful communicative tasks and activities, teachers provide students with the motivation to use and speak English in realistic situations.…

First-semester Spanish students were encouraged to acquire vocabulary through small- and large-group oral activities plus semantic mapping. A second group participated in similar oral activities but did not perform semantic mapping. A comparison of the two groups suggests a trend toward the effectiveness of semantic mapping as a strategy that…

Uses the foreign language autobiography to explore the perceptions of a group of adult foreign language learners toward a broad range of issues related to classroom atmosphere and instruction. Qualitative analysis of student writings revealed three categories of data: classroom interaction, perceived level of success, and attributions of success…

Reports on a study comparing student performances and test reliabilities for the German Speaking Test, a semi-direct tape-mediated oral proficiency test (GST) developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics, and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Oral Proficiency Interviews. (Author/VWL)

Evaluated the effectiveness of Italia Oggi, a videodisc-based system for intermediate and advanced students of Italian at Griffith University in Australia. Attention was focused on students' behavior in pair work, including talk at the workstation and the collaborative strategies they employed. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the use of portfolios for assessing second language learning. Focuses on different kinds of portfolios, criteria for evaluating a portfolio, and portfolios as a motivating tool. (Author/VWL)

This case study shows how an English-as-a-Second-Language teenager in the United States created literacy experiences for himself through involvement in various forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC) on the Internet. Analyzes the learner's information on textual identity through the theoretical constructs of voice, design, and…

Discusses research on English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers' collaborative reflection on individual teaching procedures. Analyzed the collaborative efforts of two EFL teachers to explore teaching with a view to solving problems in their respective classes. Examined whether this process of collaborative reflection would lead to a change in…

Suggests that Hong Kong English, as it varies from standard English, has not achieved wide acceptance in the community. Approaches this issue by investigating the attitudes of Hong Kong's English language teachers. Analyzed over 1000 messages on language issues on a computer network for English teachers, focusing on discourse and sources of…

Reports on an examination of books written by children who are English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners. Compares the books with criteria for meritorious literature. Discusses implications of the results relevant to process-writing instruction with second-language learners. Indicates an unexpected adherence to criteria for literary genres.…

Examines similarities and differences in loss of grammatical systems across languages, investigating structural changes in six attrited languages as compared to nonattrited languages and demonstrating significant parallelism in structural changes across languages. Correlation between levels of grammatical and lexical loss are discussed, noting a…

Examines the position of Tamil as the language of an ethnic minority in Malaysia and Singapore, placing the issue of Tamil and language maintenance within the larger sociolinguistic milieu in the two countries and drawing conclusions about the role of language policy and planning in the determination of linguistic outcomes. (SM)

Compares the 1996 Canadian Language Benchmarks for describing English-language proficiency among second-language-learners with the International Adult Literacy Survey. Points to the potential for aligning the Benchmarks with other systems for describing adult competencies to enable more systematic integration of immigrants' experiences, skills,…