Plenary selections include reports on the difficulties facing non-native English speakers who choose ESL as a profession, the strengths and weaknesses of university-based teacher-training programs, the language situation in the United States with concentration on TESOL and language in American life, the need for communication among the major professional organizations concerned with linguistic and cultural factors in education, English for Special Purposes, and the interrelatedness of TESOL research and training. Insights into research are provided in discussions of the role of ESL programs in hastening the extinction of indigenous languages in foreign coutries, the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive function, intake control in second language learning, the role of prefabricated utterances in learners' progression toward native-like control of English, language proficiency of newly placed students compared with that of continuing students, and the attitudes of American undergraduates toward the language of foreign teaching assistants. Papers focusing on practice and application include reviews of university training programs for the rural ESL teacher, teaching in non-instructional settings, communicative disorders in the ESL classroom, problems in ESL programs, language learning via drama, ESL teacher intercultural awareness training, and vocabulary preparation for reading in the content area. (Author/JK)