This paper focuses on the issue of whether pedagogical mediation will facilitate the acquisition of conversational skills. It argues that it is possible to describe casual conversation, that it has a grammatical structure, and that it is of benefit to English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners for the structure of conversation to be explicitly…

Five brief articles from a journal published by the Public Affairs Department of the University of Natal, South Africa, discuss issues related to empowering adults through literacy education in that country. "Meeting Needs" (Gwyneth van Heerden) describes the extent and nature of adult illiteracy in South Africa and the activities of the…

This paper argues, using a feminist poststructuralist perspective, that second language acquisition (SLA) theorists have struggled to explore the relationship between the language learner and the social world because they do not question how structures of power in the social world impact on individual language learners and the opportunities they…

Analysis of beginning second language textbooks for German, Swedish, English, and Finnish looked at the readability of the contents. Finnish and English texts are examined more closely here as illustrations of the problems found in all four languages. Specific passages are cited and discussed; two are appended. A general framework of text…

This discussion of cooperative second language learning describes the approach in terms of response to three questions: WHO? WHAT? and WHY? The first section "WHO: Major Directors and Actors," chronicles the evolution of cooperative learning in general and cooperative language learning in particular, citing some specific methods and the…

A study investigated the use of the interlanguage of a native speaker of Chinese using English. The subject was an art school instructor, and data were drawn from three recordings of language used in his role as teacher. It was found that despite different situations, the nature of the task determined the kind of language-learner language used.…

This study examined the relationship of satellite distance education receive-site facilitator knowledge and practices to student achievement in a satellite distance education course. The specific areas of interest were: (1) facilitator knowledge about the satellite telecommunications delivery system; and (2) facilitator practices for enhancing…

Instructor attitudes toward students with non-native accents were examined in a study of 55 student teachers attending a small, private liberal arts college in the San Francisco (California) area. A review of the literature included information on error analysis, communication, general attitudes, instructor attitudes, and classroom behavior and…

A study investigated how learners of a second language cope with the linguistic difficulties in oral interaction with a native speaker. The four subjects were training to become bilingual secretaries and were faced with job interviews. The study's objectives were: (1) to analyze the subjects' oral performance and show that learners differ widely…

Research on the language development of children in immersion programs has uncovered a certain amount of data. Immersion students have less well developed productive skills than their francophone peers and passive receptive skills which approach those of francophones. Error analysis studies have found that immersion students reach a plateau in…

The problems of classroom teacher-conducted research are examined with reference to a particular case study. The case study involved a field test of "A Practical Guide for Advanced Writers in ESL" over a semester in two sections of an intermediate English as a second language (ESL) writing class for college-bound students at the University of…

The first year of an individualized bilingual magnet project was evaluated. A total of 254 elementary and secondary students in Philadelphia participated. Multimedia bilingual education was provided to students of non-English speaking backgrounds at two sites. At the elementary site, bilingual education was offered in Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese,…

This article outlines the objectives and curriculum for English instruction for French law students. The curriculum adapts to the characteristics and particular language needs of law students. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Although she is now teaching Spanish in a new school full time, Linda Smrokowski, spent 9 years teaching in a once-per-week second language program. Because many once- or twice-per-week programs still exist, she shares strategies for writing and implementing detailed lesson plans that worked for her while she was teaching in a once-per-week…

This paper examines content-based instruction, which is an integrated approach to language instruction drawing topics, texts, and tasks from content or subject matter classes but focusing on the cognitive, academic language skills needed to participate effectively in content instruction. The intent and design of content-based instructional…