One of the major problems of secondary school second language teachers in British Columbia is providing work that a student can do individually, leaving the teacher free for other students. It is rare that individual work includes oral-aural practice. A teaching method is presented that allows individualized instruction without sacrificing…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: correlates of reading achievement in Mexican-American children; Latino communication patterns; the semantic distance and semantic judgment of English monolingual and Spanish/English…

This is a report in outline form of the status of teaching English literature in Austria. The schools syllabus prescribes that English literature should be taught after students have studied English for four years, that is, in the 5th form. The short story is the usual prose form selected. In the 5th and 6th forms, one literary work is studied in…

This is a summary in outline form of the English language teaching situation in Morocco. Arabic is the official language of the country, and French is the second language of the educated section of society. English is not used as a medium of communication or as a medium of instruction, except in isolated cases at highest postgraduate level.…

The introduction of a listening comprehension component in the Israeli Matriculation examination of English as a Foreign Language has necessitated research into more effective methods of testing listening comprehension. Oral proficiency has been part of the examination for some time, but more reliable methods of evaluating the test are needed. An…

Individualized learning is one of the current educational trends. This approach is an answer to the differences found among students in terms of their abilities and disabilities, learning styles, objectives, and interests. Individualized instruction calls for a synthesis of strategies, which should be categorized in a hierarchy projecting all…

This paper, presented in English and in Spanish, presents a method designed to help foreign students in English-speaking universities increase their speed and comprehension while reading scientific and technical matter. The training of these students has often been limited to reading "general" English, which means that they are unable to…

This paper reports on a pilot study conducted to determine the possible use of the cloze procedure as a substitute measure of achievement in a second-year Spanish culture and civilization class. Twenty students enrolled in a third-semester Spanish class at the University of Colorado were simultaneously given multiple choice tests and cloze tests…

The autonomous learning strategy for adults which has been used to teach English as a second language at the University of Nancy for the past two years is described here in detail. Several case studies are provided on learners with both specific and general language needs, illustrating the roles of the helper, learner and the institution, and the…

This newsletter contains five articles. The first, "Discourse Structure in Reading," by Ron Shook, suggests that reading materials for the beginning ESL (English as a second language) reader often have three defects: (1) profusion of detail as question fodder; (2) an oversimplified syntax; and (3) an artificial construction that violates…

The guide is designed to assist teachers at the secondary level in using "Lingua Latina Secundum Naturae Rationem Explicata," the Nature Method Institute's Latin series. Particular emphasis is placed on the early chapters of the course. Abundant materials in the form of pattern practices and mimicry drills are given as supplementary material for…

The Culver City (Calif.) Schools' Spanish Immersion Program (SIP) offers an innovative and highly successful approach to the development of proficiency in a foreign language in the elementary grades. This approach differs from most bilingual programs in that for the first two years the students are completely immersed in Spanish. When the students…

This selective bibliography is divided into two main sections. The first deals with Arabic-English contrastive studies and lists 5 books, or sections in books, and 16 journal articles. The second section deals with error analysis for Arabic speakers learning English and lists 3 journal articles. The entries range in date from 1959 to 1975. The…

A student's self-image is his most precious possession. Yet this image is constantly threatened in a language class (or anywhere else). Some threats come from the foreignness of the language, others from the power imbalance between student and teacher, others from the student's failure to live up to what he expects of himself. All of these threats…

This report presents an evaluation of the Louisiana state-wide program of French instruction at the primary level during the academic year 1973-74. Aims of the program were to show that: (1) a second language learning program is feasible, educationally sound, and can fit within the existing educational program while utilizing the present staff;…