This is the introduction to "Strength through Wisdom," the report of the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies. An overview of the commission's findings is presented, along with the commission's principal recommendations and a prospectus for a national commission on foreign language and international…

Describes the use of a game, Grand Prix Wagon Racing, to prompt speaking in the foreign language and to provide visibility among parents and administrators of the foreign language program. (PMJ)

Describes a successful reciprocal bilingual exchange program between Anglophone fourth-year high school students of Spanish and native speakers of Spanish in an elementary school. Plans and specific activities are outlined for weekly interactions which serve as a sociocultural and linguistic bridge between the two groups of Spanish speakers. (PMJ)

Describes a curriculum based on a notional-functional process used to assist advanced ESL students in handling real-life situations. Suggestions for central and spin-off topics include: goals setting, values clarification, the world of work, and apartment hunting. The course forces the authentic use of English and teaches several skills. (PMJ)

The same semantic strategies for requesting are available in Spanish and English. Bilingual children use more polite strategies in speaking Spanish and more neutral ones in speaking English. (PMJ)

Presents strategies for exploring the cultural content of feature foreign films in the language or culture and civilization classroom. Examples are taken from Francois Truffaut's "L'Argent de poche" and from Agnes Varga's "L'Une Chante, L'autre pas." (AM)

Behavior modification techniques that can be used to overcome fears and anxieties of students and to further achievement in second language learning are discussed. The following techniques are covered: systematic desensitization, cognitive restructuring, and modeling and guided participation. (SW)

The gap between the language that foreign language teachers present to their students in the classroom and the language of real-life situations is discussed. The use of dialogues in the classroom and oral comprehension as a learning activity are covered. (SW)

Investigates the relationship between language aptitude components and second language (L2) outcomes among learners whose intensive L2 exposure began at different ages. Findings reveal that in adolescence immersion, a positive relationship occurs between L2 outcomes and an analytical dimension of language aptitude, whereas in early immersion, a…

Examines the role that Yoruba greetings play in understanding the culture of the speakers. Illustrates that these greetings not only establish an atmosphere of sociability, but also communicate cultural information and serve as value reinforcement for participants and observers. Also emphasizes that teaching greetings in Yoruba involves teaching…

Examined the role of awareness in relation to R. W. Schmidt's noticing hypothesis in second language acquisition. The study analyzed the think-aloud protocols of adult learners of Spanish as a second language as they were completing a problem-solving task as well as their immediate performances on two post-exposure assessment tasks, a recognition…

Reports on a study investigating the unlearning of null subjects and null objects by Chinese students (n=159) of English as a Second Language. Results show an asymmetry in Chinese learners' English, which is opposite to that found in native English. (70 references) (Author/CK)

Presents a background to the main issues concerning Asian language learning at a distance at tertiary level and in industry in Australia. Also reports on the development of the course, "Communicate in Japanese: A Self-Study Course," at the Institute of Languages. Describes the benefits of distance education learning as a means of…

Explores the hypothesis that the background knowledge effect, that is, familiarity with the topic, that enhances reading comprehension in a foreign language occurs only between two thresholds. Findings indicate that a lower threshold may exist, whereas the existence of an upper threshold is an open question. (50 references) (Author/CK)

Reports on follow-up analyses of Sasaki's (in press) competition experiment study of Japanese sentence comprehension strategies conducted to investigate the double-object active and transitive causative sentence processing strategies by English-speaking learners of Japanese and how immediate error feedback affects them. The article contrasts…