Discusses sociocultural theory and pedagogy in the second language classroom, especially as it relates to student assessment. Suggests authentic assessment (G. Wiggins, 1990) and instructional conversations (R. Tharp and R. Gallimore, 1988) as better methods of student assessment within this sociocultural framework. (SLD)

Highlights binational centers, one of the most popular places for learning English in the major cities of Latin America. Discusses their history, services and programs, changes in funding and support, and accomplishments. (Author/VWL)

The author reacts to a critique of an earlier article he wrote on invented sentences in students learning English. (VWL)

Compares the treatment of one specific communicative function--the expression of concessive relation--in six recent grammar books of German as a foreign language. Shows that the presentation of grammar in these books is deficient, because in each of them only a part of the existing means for the realization of this function is commented on. (VWL)

Describes procedures implemented by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for the development of national versions of the assessment instruments in all instruction languages used in the participating countries. Presents data that provide empirical information on the effectiveness of these procedures. (VWL)

In a study of classroom second language acquisition, sought to determine reasons why the context in which a word appears does not always lead a language learner to an accurate interpretation of its meaning. Expands the existing research by using a natural intact, unmanipulated test as the context. Analysis of students' answers, self-reported…

Offers a technique for helping English-as-a-Second-Language students to remember to speak English during group work. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on the use of information gap activities in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language classroom. Describes how teachers can set up situations in the language classroom so that information gaps occur and students can bridge them with genuine communication. (Author/VWL)

Proposes a multi-dimensional curriculum that formed the basis for the Canadian National Core French Study. (Author/VWL)

In this letter to her teacher, the author shares her experiences in the classroom and her reasons for studying Spanish. (Author/VWL)

Argues for the need to reconcile symbolist and connectionist accounts of second language learning by propounding nine claims, aimed at integrating accounts of representation, processing, and acquisition of second language knowledge. Advocates a nonnativist, emergentist view of first language learning and adopts a version of what could be called a…

Exemplifies, through the pedagogical theories put forth by Paulo Freire in his book "Pedagogia del oprimado" (teaching the oppressed) and along with the potentials of hypertext, the intimate relationship between socio-cultural forces and the technical responses emerging from the dialectic process between them. (AS)

Presents the results of a study aimed at (1) examining the nature of oral production processes during foreign-language learning (Spanish); (2) utilizing retrospective verbal report protocols for collecting improved data; and (3) proposing teaching strategies based on the qualitative data of subjects' self-revelations. (AS)

The approach of task-based instruction is too narrow a theoretical framework to properly analyze the use of poetry in such a context. Argues that Hanauer's study contains a methodological error, which is due in part to the fact that the definition of a language-based task as an activity focusing on interpreting meaning and solving some sort of…

Focuses on the acquisition of linguistic devices used for discourse cohesion in Chinese and French. Particular attention is paid to how two types of learners acquire the linguistic means for marking topics, in particular French "dislocation," and its discourse-pragmatic functions. Data consist of narratives based on picture sequences, produced in…