This teaching guide presents 11 classic German ballads for classroom use in the instruction of German as a foreign language. For each of the 11 ballads included in the guide, questions and exercises are provided to aid student comprehension, as well as numerous drawings and other illustrative materials. (VWL)

The production and understanding of humor calls for a specific competence. It appears that second language learners fail to develop this competence even when they reach native-like proficiency levels. A review of the literature suggests that the notion of humor competence in second language learning has not been examined. Humor competence can be…

This response to a paper concerning age-related effects and their relationship to universal grammar (UG) in second language (L2) acquisition looks first at both the paper in question and research on UG and L2 acquisition in general. After these observations, discussion focuses on the following four topics in relation to the paper: (1) the notions…

A discussion of Stephen Krashen's Monitor Theory (1982) of second language acquisition examines five main hypotheses: the acquisition-learning distinction, the natural order hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the input hypothesis, and the affective filter hypothesis. Several problematic elements of the theory are pointed out. The discussion…

The learning needs relevant to a communicative approach to language teaching and the appropriate teaching methods are examined. Three alternatives perspectives on language use are discussed: structural, functional, and communicative. Taken together, these perspectives highlight the goal of foreign language learning: teaching the ability to use the…

Compensation strategies, the attempts made by non-native speakers to remedy the disparity between their communication needs and the linguistic tools at their disposal, are examined. Two tactics for non-native speakers are distinguished: that of averting problems by acting on oneself, and that of averting problems by acting on one's interlocutor.…

The natural phonology theory, related to European structuralism, makes two fundamental assumptions: (1) phonemes are mental images of the sounds of language, and (2) phonological processes represent subconscious mental substitutions of one sound or class of sounds for another that are the natural response to the relative difficulties of sound…

A symposium on discourse analysis and language learning is summarized. Discourse analysis can be divided into six fields of research: syntax, the amount of syntactic organization required for different types of discourse, large speech events, intra-sentential cohesion in text, speech acts, and unequal power discourse. Research on speech events and…

The Natural Approach to teaching second language communication skills is described. The Natural Approach is based on the proposition that acquirers in natural situations go through three stages: comprehension, early speech, and speech emergence. Provision of comprehensible input allows beginning learners to teach themselves how to speak. Thus,…

Different types of learning styles among sophisticated second language learners are described. Excerpts are presented of interviews with four adults who were gifted in acquiring command of foreign languages. Each of the respondents used a different approach to second language learning but considered that approach to be the one naturally…

A collection of 20 papers describes innovative methods of second language instruction with the aim of promoting change and experimentation in language teaching. The papers are organized under four categories: background, the evolution of the comprehension approach, approaches to a rich acquisition environment, and approaches to a rich learning…

The concepts and roles of motivation and attitude in relation to second language learning are examined. Motivation can be characterized as primary or derivative, and intrinsic or extrinsic. Attitude is a motivational factor generated by context. Motivation and attitude play an important role in all situations which are not natural, such as school…

First the author discusses the question of the most propitious age for beginning the learning of a second language. He then describes the experimental FLES curriculum of the State of Baden-Wurttemberg and analyzes its results to date. (Text is in German.) (TL)

Discusses the application stage of the language teaching process, its purpose, some effective application activities and certain techniques for conducting these activities. (PP)