In the field of English as a foreign language teaching, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of lexical collocations for vocabulary learning. An obstacle to teaching these is their number. It is argued that this enormous teaching and learning load can be reduced by a contrastive approach to the concept of lexical collocation. (36…

Investigates the programmatic nature of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Proficiency Guidelines in the context of an unusual body of linguistic material: gravestone inscriptions. It is demonstrated that these texts can be used with imagination to develop linguistic facility according to the hierarchy of skills contained in…

Contends that a critical review of the theoretical underpinnings, measurement instruments, and current status of the construct leads to the inevitable conclusion that field dependence/independence does not have, and never has had, any relevance for second-language learning. (52 references) (Author/CB)

Evidence is reviewed that demonstrates the importance of information derived from kinesic behavior to the activity of listening in the native language and the possible effects of an absence of this visual information. Implications are considered for the development of second-language listening skills. (76 references) (Author/LB)

Examination of the effects of integrative motivation and anxiety on computerized second-language vocabulary acquisition found that subjects higher in integrative motivation showed superior vocabulary acquisition and tended to initiate translation more quickly than did those with lower integrative motivation, whereas anxiety did not appear to…

Presents critical analysis of a paper "Testing Reading Comprehension Skills, Part One," in which the consideration concerns the inadequacy of taxonomies of skills to describe individual readers' processes and, hence, their usefulness in test construction. (15 references) (GLR)

Many theories of second-language acquisition (SLA) are oppositional, and culling may be necessary. Principled culling requires a rational approach to theory assessment, and the difficulty of identifying universally valid evaluation criteria makes this problematic. Assessment strategies used in other fields can be useful in SLA, but choice among…

Reports on a study that compared, in two experiments, the learning rates of subjects learning semantically related and semantically unrelated new second-language words. The findings strongly suggest that students have more difficulty learning new words presented to them in semantic clusters than they do learning semantically unrelated words. (18…

A framework for second-language acquisition (SLA) features cognitive processing components: process of analysis and process of control. These processes lead to changes in mental representations that are the basis of learning. The framework can be applied to similarity of first- and second-language learning, the starting point for SLA,…

Examines the lexical errors made by students learning French as a foreign language, and proposes a new method for teaching vocabulary based on a lexical disambiguation model. (15 references) (JL)

Reviews research on native language (NL) listening, and discusses the importance of listening in second-language (L2) acquisition, factors that influence success or failure of comprehension of first-language or L2 messages, the role of listening in the L2 curriculum, posited models of NL and L2 listening comprehension, and proposed taxonomies of…

Some models in translation theory are outlined and critically examined. It is suggested that none of the models offers a psychologically valid reconstruction of the translation process but rather idealized schematic arrangements showing the interrelations among components that are likely involved in the process. (53 references) (Author/LB)

Summarizes the practical results of a study devoted to the acquisition of Dutch as a foreign language. An attempt was made to test some of Krashen's hypotheses and to discuss the theoretical background of his Monitor Theory. Results confirmed a number of Krashen's hypotheses. (77 references) (LET)

Rate-controlled recorded text can be used not only to facilitate listening comprehension through reducing speech rate, but it can also help language learners become accustomed to increasingly rapid deliveries. First- and second-language research on temporal variables relevant to facilitating listening comprehension is described, and practical…

Examines five cognitive models for second-language acquisition (SLA) and assesses how each might account for the Pidginized interlanguage found in the early stages of second-language acquisition. (23 references) (JL)