Abstract: Part I. Research Issues in Second Language Teacher Education: 1. The Unstudied Problem: Research in learning to teach second languages Part II. Studies of Teacher Decision-Making: 2. Teacher decision-making in the adult ESL classroom 3. Starting all over again: From teaching adults to teaching beginners Part III. Narrative Studies: 4. I'm not typical: Stories of becoming a Spanish teacher 5. Learning to teach together teaching to learn together 6. The language learner's autobiography: Examining the apprenticeship of observation Part IV. Language and Discourse-Based Studies: 7. What's in a Methodology? 8. The role of collaborative dialogue in teacher education 9. Renaming experience/reconstructing practice: Developing new understandings of teaching Part V. Teacher Learning: The Preservice Experience: 10. Learning How to Teach: a case study of teachers in the RSA Cert. 11. Student foreign language teachers' knowledge growth 12. multicultural Classrooms and cultural communities of teachers Part VI. Teacher Learning: In-School Practice: 13. The vision vs. the reality: the tensions of the TESOL practicum 14. Towards reflective teaching: curriculum development and action research Part VII. Teacher Learning: Specific Teacher Education Interventions: 15. Learning how to teach ESL writing 16. When input becomes intake: tracing the sources of teachers' attitude change 17. Theorizing from practice: case studies of training ESL teachers through structural reflection.

Abstract: Why does language change? Why can we speak to and understand our parents but have trouble reading Shakespeare? Why is Chaucer's English of the fourteenth century so different from Modern English of the late twentieth century that the two are essentially different languages? Why are Americans and English 'one people divided by a common language'? And how can the language of Chaucer and Modern English - or Modern British and American English - still be called the same language? The present book provides answers to questions like these in a straightforward way, aimed at the non-specialist, with ample illustrations from both familiar and more exotic languages. Most chapters in this new edition have been reworked, with some difficult passages removed, other passages thoroughly rewritten, and several new sections added, e.g. on language and race and on Indian writing systems. Further, the chapter notes and bibliography have all been updated.

Abstract: We used positron emission tomography to study brain activity in adults while they were listening to stories in their native language, in a second language acquired after the age of seven, and in a third unknown language. Several areas, similar to those previously observed in monolinguals, were activated by the native but not by the second language. Both the second and the unknown language yielded distinct left-hemispheric activations in areas specialized for phonological processing, which were not engaged by a backward speech control task. These results indicate that some brain areas are shaped by early exposure to the maternal language, and are not necessarily activated by the processing of a second language to which they have been exposed for a limited time later in life.

Abstract: Using a think-aloud procedure, we observed the behavior of 15 university students in Australia with experience in Italian as they attempted to learn the meanings of new foreign language (Italian) words. The great majority of the procedures they used involved some form of repetition of the new words and their meanings-mostly a simple reading of the dictionary-like entries provided, or repetitions of the word-meaning complexes. They gave relatively little attention to the physical or grammatical features of words, nor did they commonly use elaborative acquisition procedures. The lack of association between use of context and recall of word meaning is of major interest, given the stress placed on context by many researchers and commentators. Even when students did use the cues in the sentences to generate possible meanings for the target words, this did not help them establish representations for the meanings of the words. Consideration of the use of context in vocabulary acquisition suggests a need to distinguish between the use of context for

Abstract: Thousands of adults enroll annually in private EFL courses in Egypt. What spurs these learners to exert the effort required and pay the fees in a country where access to public education is free at all levels? Our understanding of such issues is limited by the fact that most research on motivation has been conducted in second rather than foreign language learning contexts and in North American or European cultural settings. In the study reported here, a questionnaire was developed, based on current work on motivation in second and foreign language contexts and more general models from cognitive and educational psychology, and was administered to a sample of 1,554 adult learners at the Center for Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) at the American University in Cairo, with 1,464 questionnaires used for the analyses. Factor analysis and multidimensional scaling were used to identify the components of EFL motivation for this population. Results suggest that there are three basic dimensions to motivation for learning foreign languages, which we label Affect, Goal Orientation, and Expectancy. In general terms, these are probably universal and neurobiologically based, although the analysis suggests a specific Egyptian orientation with respect to the precise definition and content of each dimension. Learner profiles with respect to these dimensions of motivation were related to age, gender, and proficiency. Motivation is also related to learning strategies and preferences for certain kinds of classes and learning tasks. Those who scored high on the affective dimension of motivation preferred communicatively oriented language classes, while those high in anxiety tended not to like group work or other aspects of currently popular communicative language pedagogy. Students with a traditional approach to learning (e.g., choosing memorization strategies over inferencing from context) also preferred classes in which the teacher maintains control.

Abstract: The multilingualisms of the United Nations, the European Union, and postcommunist Europe are very different phenomena. English plays a key role in each and is being actively promoted. The language map of Europe and linguistic hierarchies are evolving and are in need of scrutiny so that research and policy in Europe can benefit from insights that come from theoretically informed study of language planning, policy, and legislation. Overall there seem to be two language policy options, a diffusion-of-English paradigm and an ecology-of-language paradigm. The first is characterized by triumphant capitalism, its science and technology, and a monolingual view of modernization and internationalization. The ecology-of-language paradigm involves building on linguistic diversity worldwide, promoting multilingualism and foreign language learning, and granting linguistic human rights to speakers of all languages. This article explores the assumptions of both paradigms and urges English language teaching professionals to support the latter.

Abstract: This paper identifies characteristics of the effective language teacher (ELT) as perceived by both language teachers and students in the Israeli educational system. Subjects consisted of two randomly selected groups. The first included 200 foreign language teachers of English, French, Arabic, and Hebrew, while the second included 406 ninth grade high school students from ten heterogeneous schools. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire and interviews. Various characteristics associated with the ELT were identified, such as the teacher's command of the target language; his or her ability to organize, explain, and clarify; and his or her ability to arouse and sustain interest and motivation. The more we know about ELT characteristics, the more likely we are to develop language teacher preparation models that incorporate aspects of relevant language teaching as well as help in establishing standards for evaluating language instruction.

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between anxiety and native language skill and foreign language aptitude measures among 154 high school foreign language learners. Three levels of anxiety were identified using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale or FLCAS (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). Low Anxiety (LO-ANX) students were expected to have significantly stronger native language skills and foreign language aptitude than High Anxiety (HI-ANX) students and significantly higher foreign language grades. Average Anxiety (AVE-ANX) students were expected to score somewhere in-between. Findings showed overall significant differences among the groups on nine variables, including measures of native language phonology/orthography, semantics, and verbal memory; foreign language aptitude; eighth-grade English grade; and end-of-year foreign language grade. On measures of phonology/orthography, eighth-grade English, and foreign language grade, LO-ANX and AVE-ANX students outperformed HI-ANX students. On a foreign language aptitude measure and foreign language grade, LO-ANX students outperformed both AVE- and HI-ANX students. On measures of verbal memory and reading comprehension, LO-ANX students outperformed HI-ANX students. Discriminant analysis results showed that all test measures but one were significant in distinguishing the three groups. Among others, implications include the suggestion that skill in one's native language and aptitude for learning a foreign language may affect anxiety level and that the FLCAS may provide an early indicator of basic language problems.

Abstract: Despite high interest in second language writers' revision processes, few studies have examined how learners perceive or incorporate expert feedback into their revisions. Combining quantitative and qualitative analyses, this study profiles students' awareness of the functions and influences of expert input in their writing. Data include results of a survey of foreign language and English as a second language writers' beliefs about feedback behaviors known to interact with revision processes. Factor analytic results show that, whereas writers in both groups share certain beliefs about feedback and revision, each group perceives expert response as serving distinct functions. Interview data reveal that instructional practices largely shape learners' expectations concerning the pedagogical goals of written feedback. Although tentative, evidence from these complementary studies supports the claim that insights in foreign and second writing research can be enhanced by a reasoned pairing of methodologies and that such tools can supply teachers with meaningful information.

Abstract: The scores obtained by female students on the national foreign language examinations in the Netherlands have been slightly but consistently lower than those of male students. The present research among 2980 high school students tested the hypothesis that, owing to sex differences in prior knowledge and interests, the topic of a text is an important factor explaining these sex-based differences. To measure prior knowledge, the students' reading and TV habits, academic subject choice, self-reported knowledge, and interest concerning the text topics were assessed. A total of 11 different English reading passages-including 5 texts with a ''male'' topic, and 6 texts with a ''female'' topic-were selected. On all the male reading comprehension measures, and on five of the six female tests, significant differences were found in the expected direction. Moreover, these sex-based differences appeared to be largely due to sex differences in reading habits. Although there was only an indirect relation between the students' reading preference and the text comprehension score on related topics, this study suggests that differences between the sexes in prior knowledge contribute to sex differences in foreign language reading comprehension.

Abstract: This article reports the findings of a study with university foreign language students, which employed ethnographic interview techniques as a pedagogical tool to promote positive attitudes toward speakers of the language studied. Informed by the theory of culture as process, the National Language Resource Center (LARC)1 at San Diego State University trained elementary-level university Spanish students to conduct ethnographic interviews in preparation for a cross-cultural project that was integrated into the course curriculum and class requirements. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate that the project enhanced student attitudes toward the study of Spanish as well as their understanding of their own culture and the culture of local Spanish speakers. Furthermore, by learning and conducting ethnographic interviews, students practiced formally the life skill of active listening. In addition to providing a review of relevant literature and research findings, this article describes a program for implementing ethnographic interview techniques in the foreign language classroom.

Abstract: A system is disclosed which allows for an electronic discussion group user to communicate with another user who speaks a different language. Machine translators and other software are incorporated to translate messages, thereby creating parallel discussion groups in different languages.

Abstract: General second language proficiency continues to intrigue researchers This study investigates the relationships between general second language proficiency (SLP) and selected cognitive abilities (ie foreign language aptitude, verbal intelligence, and reasoning) in 160 EFL Japanese college students Structural equation modeling disconfirmed the hypothesis that general SLP forms the center of what has traditionally been called general intelligence However, it suggests a strong relation between SLP and other cognitive abilities The study also analyzed the protocol data provided by the actual text takers, revealing that SLP is related to the ability to assess, plan, and execute in problem solving processes

Abstract: Schools in the United States serve a large and increasing number of Spanish-speaking students who are making the transition to English language literacy. This study examines one aspect of the transition to English literacy, namely, how Spanish-speaking students spell English words. Samples of 38 students who speak Spanish at home (Spanish-speaking group) and 34 students who speak English at home (English-speaking group) listened to a list of 40 common English words dictated to them by the teacher and wrote down each word one at a time. Spanish-speaking students produced more errors that were consistent with the correct application of Spanish phonological and orthographical rules (i.e., predicted errors) than did English-speaking students, and the groups generally did not differ in their production of other kinds of spelling errors (i.e., nonpredicted errors). Theoretical and practical implications for bilingual education are discussed.

Abstract: There is an implicit and pervasive resistance among many foreign language teachers to going beyond linguistic training and the anecdotal transmission of cultural facts. This paper analyses the deep historical and social reasons for such a resistance in the educational systems of the United States, France and Ireland. It sketches the principles of a discourse‐based pedagogy that views culture as language and language as culture, and that makes the very process of enunciation the locus of cultural difference and personal choice. Such a pedagogy enables teachers to do justice to the diversity they find in the target culture and in the cultures present in their own classrooms, while remaining intrinsically and eminently ‘language’ teachers.

Abstract: The title of Valdes' (1990) paper, "The inevitability of teaching and learning culture in a foreign language course," may now reflect an axiom in second-and foreign-language (L2 and FL) pedagogy, but it remains unclear to many L2 and FL educators just how this has come to be the case and what impact this has on their classroom practice. This article addresses these issues by working towards an understanding of culture in L2 and FL education. In doing so, we will examine how L2 and FL culture teaching has developed, where it currently stands, and what directions to take for future research on this topic.

Abstract: As Jeffreyt nuntsman (1983) puts it, "grammar was thought to discipline the mind and the soul at the same time" (59). I was even more surprised to discover that a major publisher of textbooks used in home schooling and in fundamentalist schools describes a certain middle grade grammar and writing program (God's Gift of Language Series) by saying that "Grammar is taught with the purpose of making clear to the students the orderly structure of their language, a picture of God's orderly plan for the world and for their lives" (A Beka Book, 1996, Home School Catalogue, 36). Clearly some people think that grammar should be taught as a formal system because it represents order, authority, and something that-to them-seems absolute, without question (Chapman 1986; Holderer 1995; Gaddy, Hall, and Marzano 1996). With such deep-seated beliefs, some parents and community members argue vociferously for teaching grammar as a system-formally, and not necessarily in conjunction with writing. They argue for grammar on what, for them, are moral and religious grounds. And when other stakeholders in education realize that grammar is not being taught as a formal system and that students are not necessarily mastering some of the conventions of edited written English, it is easy for them to simply assume a causal relationship and believe that English teachers are not doing their duty when they don't teach grammar as a complete subject. As professionals teaching the English language arts, we too are sometimes convinced that we learned practical things about sentence structure, style, and editing from doing exercises in our grammar books; for instance, I can tell you very specifically some of what I learned that has helped me as a writer (though I'll admit I only needed one or two semesters of intensive grammar study to reap its potential benefits, not the six semesters to which I and my classmates were subjected). Because some of us are convinced we benefitted at least somewhat from the formal study of grammar, it can be difficult for community members and English teachers alike to believe what decades of grammar studies tell us: that in general, the teaching of grammar does not serve any practical purpose for most students (Hillocks and Smith 1991). It does not improve reading, speaking, writing, or even editing, for the majority of students-nor does the teaching of English grammar necessarily make it easier for students to learn the structure of a foreign language (indeed, many students who have studied English grammar consciously learn the structure of English for the first time when studying a foreign language).

Abstract: When the beliefs about reading and reading instruction of six secondary foreign language teachers were compared with their instructional classroom practices, inconsistencies were found in three areas. All six teachers in this qualitative study believed that reading proficiency is facilitated by providing students with frequent opportunities for reading practice, that the use of the target language is preferable for reading instruction, and that oral reading interferes with reading comprehension. Yet, in practice, all six teachers compromised these beliefs because of poor student performance. Implications for teacher education programs include the need to provide a firmer grounding in L2 reading development, to explore the reality of competing belief systems, and to evolve new strategies to maximize preferred reading practices.

Abstract: Introduction: What is language planning?, language policy? How Japanese is written History of language policy in Japan Language policy formulation in Japan today Underlying imperatives of language policy Which script? Some Japanese perspectives on language policy The major arguments. Historical background to government action The National Language Research Council The kana problem A temporary hiatus The Interim National Language Research Council The National Language Council. Kokutai and kotodama Domestic frustrations External language policies Taiwan and Korea China and southeast Asia. Democracy and script The early reforms: characters and kanazukai A reorganized National Language Council Reforms in the 1950s: name kanji, Orurigana Renascent opposition Results of the postwar reforms. Hyoonha and hyoiha The 1961 walkout A period of change The LDP intervenes The reversal begins: the 1966 shimon and the 25-year cycle of revaluation.

Abstract: In Language in History, Tony Crowley provides the analytical tools for answering such questions. Using a radical re-reading of Saussure and Bahktin, he demonstrates, in four case studies, the ways in which language has been used to construct social and cultural identity in Britain and Ireland. For example, he examines the ways in which language was employed to construct a bourgeois public sphere in 18th Century England, and he reveals how language is still being used in contemporary Ireland to articulate national and political aspirations and why the Irish language died. By bringing together linguistic and critical theory with his own sharp historical and political consciousness, Tony Crowley provides a new agenda for language study; one which acknowledges the fact that writing about history has always been determined by the historical context, and by issues of race, class and gender. Language in History represents a major contribution to the field, and an essential text for anyone interested in language, discourse and communication.

Abstract: This paper explores the concept of discourse competence in the light of academic journal articles written by native and non-native writers of English and native-language writers of Finnish. The aim is to demystify the notion of discourse construction ability and to show that at least some of this is a matter of largely language-specific skills, which constitute an integral part of knowing how to use a language. The logical progression of a text is therefore not a straightforward reflection of a writer's ability of think clearly, but a product of culture and the textual resources of a language. The focus is on theme - rheme progression in texts, and the results indicate that this progression is more difficult to handle in a foreign language than in the mother tongue, even if grammatical errors are ignored. The implications are that we should make allowances for text-level problems just as we do for sentence-level errors in texts written in a foreign language, and in addition, we should develop teaching pratices which enable writers to construct good texts in any language

Abstract: Although mother tongue (MT) and foreign language (FL) teaching and learning have much in common, there is little evidence that teachers exploit the relationship in any systematic way. This paper revives Eric Hawkins’ idea of a language studies trivium where Language Awareness activities should fill the ‘space between’ the learner's two languages. A distinction is drawn between awareness and consciousness of language, and cross‐linguistic relationships are suggested to be a major, yet unexploited source of input salience strengthening, evidence being adduced from natural bilinguals’ metalinguistic activities. Suggestions for the classroom are outlined.

Abstract: Language policy and power language policy and social justice language policy and minority culture bilingual education, social justice and power minority social groups - non-standard varieties and styles gender and language policy in education school action.