The study investigated linguistic, cultural, and attitudinal changes in public school teachers during time spent in a study abroad setting in Spain, noting the effect of their conducting ethnographic interviews while in Spain on those changes. The study also looked at problems teachers experienced while studying abroad. Data from pretests and…

This publication is intended for parents, teachers, and anyone in the wider community who has an interest in language, language acquisition, and second language learning; bilingual and multilingual education; bilingualism; language, culture, and society; language and power; and literacy. Extensive long-term research was conducted on a number of…

A study investigated the utility of a measure for assessing the writing apprehension of Japanese students of English as a second language. The Daly-Miller questionnaire, designed to measure writing apprehension, was translated into Japanese and administered to 687 first- and second-year students of English at a Japanese junior college. Results…

This paper describes the various barriers to comprehension that learners may encounter when viewing feature films in a second language. Two clusters of interfacing factors that may contribute to comprehension hot spots emerged from a quantitative analysis of problems noted in student logbooks. One cluster had a strong acoustic basis, whereas the…

An evaluation was conducted to determine if there were any statistically significant, educationally meaningful, and longitudinally consistent effects on student achievement of the Ten Schools Program (TSP) after controlling for the effects of socioeconomic status and level of English proficiency. The TSP was designed to improve the academic…

This paper examines the effectiveness of process writing instruction in English as a second language to foster contextualized situated learning of adverbial clauses of contrast (e.g., "although, even though, however, nevertheless, in spite of, despite, on the other hand"), as demonstrated in a group of six Brazilian upper-intermediate…

A variety of methods for testing students' Russian language proficiency before, during, and after study in the Soviet Union are compared and discussed, including U.S. government-developed and other standardized examinations, interviews versus written methods, pretests-posttests, and testing emphases and problems. (MSE)

The predictive validity of several mathematics and language variables relative to criteria of grade point average and word problem-solving skills for 60 bilingual Hispanic technical students is investigated. Examination of standardized college admission criteria is urged. Revealed is a disparity in academic performance between bilingual and…

Presents results of a survey undertaken to determine (1) the situations in which Dutch students (secondary and higher education level) and workers would be required to use French, German, and English, either for personal or professional tasks; and (2) what gaps existed in actual proficiency in these languages. (AM)

Self-help activities designed to practice and improve communication are outlined. Sixteen learning activities are proposed that are based on assertiveness training. They can be used on all language levels to develop all four skills. (Author/AMH)

Some empirical data are presented concerning the use of cloze tests to measure children's proficiency in a bilingual educational program. The subjects were grade five students in their sixth year of a primary French immersion program. (Author/CFM)

Argues that the claims made in defense of IQ tests as measures of innate intelligence are unreasonable and false. Attempts to establish what the views of the vanguard of IQ testers are, their origin, how IQ tests have been applied and what they consist of. Aims to show the incorrectness of those views, uses, and interpretations. (200 references)…

Presents and evaluates the arguments and research evidence for and against mother tongue (MT) use in bilingual classrooms. The article endorses the claim that MT use bolsters second- language development, cognitive development, and content learning. Bourke's response focuses on arguments for and against MT use, recent research on MT use, and…

Examines four groups of readers: second-language (L2) intermediate; L2 advanced; first-language (L1) Japanese; and L1 English) when they processed and recalled two passages varying in degree of causal coherence. Findings indicate that L1 readers used much of their attention for higher level processes, whereas L2 readers paid more attention to…

A study of the language proficiency assessment practices of 859 school psychologists, when working with bilingual or limited English proficient students, found that 62 percent of school psychologists conducted their own assessments and most often used the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised or the Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody.…