Abstract: About the book: Recent years have seen rapid growth in the numbers of children being taught foreign languages at younger ages. While course books aimed at young learners are appearing on the market, there is scant theoretical reference in the teacher education literature. Teaching Languages to Young Learners is one of the few to develop readers' understanding of what happens in classrooms where children are being taught a foreign language. It will offer teachers and trainers a coherent theoretical framework to structure thinking about children's language learning. It gives practical advice on how to analyse and evaluate classroom activities, language use and language development. Examples from classrooms in Europe and Asia will help bring alive the realities of working with young learners of English.

Abstract: A questionnaire administered to 607 Colombian foreign language (FL) students and 122 of their teachers, as well as to 824 U.S. FL students and 92 teachers, elicited student and teacher perceptions concerning the role of explicit grammar instruction and corrective feedback in FL learning. Data comparisons indicated relatively high agreement between students as a group and teachers as a group across cultures on the majority of questions. A number of discrepancies were, however, evident between student and teacher beliefs within each culture, as well as in comparisons of the two groups across cultures, particularly regarding the role of formal grammar instruction in language learning. Given that discrepancies in student and teacher belief systems can be detrimental to learning, it is important that teachers explore their students' perceptions regarding those factors believed to enhance the learning of a new language and make efforts to deal with potential conflicts between student beliefs and instructional practices.

Abstract: This article draws on a case study of 6 student teachers in secondary schools and their codeswitching between the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) over the course of 14 foreign language (FL) lessons, where French was the L2 and English was the L1 of the learners. It describes how the student teachers had been exposed to theoretical positions and empirical studies on this issue during their 36-week training programme. It analyses the quantity of L1 used by these student teachers as well as the reflections and beliefs of 2 of the student teachers on the codeswitching process. The findings reveal comparatively low levels of L1 use by the student teachers and little effect of the quantity of student teacher L1 use on the quantity of L1 or L2 use by the learners. They also reveal very little explicit reference by the student teachers to the research and professional literature they had read, yet their decision making did not necessarily stem from their personal beliefs. Some aspects of codeswitching appear to be a source of conflict for the student teachers while others do not. Implications for teaching are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As one of the oldest and most influential foreign language pedagogical journals, The Modern Language Journal (MLJ) offers valuable insights into how technological advances have affected language teaching and learning at various points in history. The present article will review the proposed pedagogical use of technological resources by means of a critical analysis of articles published in the MLJ since its first edition in 1916. The assessment of how previous technical capabilities have been implemented for pedagogical purposes represents a necessary background for the assessment of the pedagogical potential of present-day technologies. In this article I argue that, whereas most “new technologies” (radio, television, VCR, computers) may have been revolutionary in the overall context of human interaction, it is not clear that they have achieved equal degrees of pedagogical benefit in the realm of second language teaching. I further claim that the pedagogical effectiveness of different technologies is related to four major questions: (a) Is increased technological sophistication correlated to increased pedagogical effectiveness? (b) Which technical attributes specific to new technologies can be profitably exploited for pedagogical purposes? (c) How can new technologies be successfully integrated into the curriculum? and (d) Do new technologies provide for an efficient use of human and material resources?

Abstract: This article continues the debate sparked by Cook (2001) in the most recent issue of the Canadian Modern Language Review examining when and how much the target language (TL) should be used in second language (SL) and foreign language (FL) teaching, and why. In this paper, I agree with Cook that SL or FL teachers should maximize their use of the TL; I also argue that doing so benefits students' TL proficiency. Aside from agreeing with Cook that there is indeed a place for the teacher to use the students' L1 in SL and FL teaching, I also highlight some disadvantages when teachers rely too extensively on the L1. I also call into question what 'maximize' really means in terms of an optimal or acceptable amount of TL and L1 use by teachers.

Abstract: Parallel measures of phonological, syntactic, and orthographic processing skill and reading were administered in English and in Chinese to 65 children whose 1st language (LI) was Cantonese and whose 2nd language (L2) was English. Phonological skill was correlated across L1 and L2. Phonological skill in both L1 and L2 was correlated with L2 reading and contributed a unique variance to L2 reading, even though the children's L1 was not written in an alphabetic orthography, whereas the 2nd language had an alphabetic orthography. This research adds to a growing body of evidence for cross-language transfer of phonological processing in L2 learning of English-as-a-Second-Language students.

Abstract: Discourse around educational language provisions for indigenous language minorities in developing contexts customarily focuses on aspects such as the technical, pedagogical or economic provisions made for them. However, there is evidence that one of the most important considerations in the success or failure of bilingual programmes is the extent to which marginal language communities participate in the design and implementation of their own language provisions. Reframing the problem in these terms means highlighting the role for democracy and equity, and ultimately the importance of distribution of power and economy in mother-tongue programmes. This suggests the need to develop a radically different conception and policy of multilingual schooling based on an approach to resource distribution in a politics of identity framework. In this paper, I propose a notion of linguistic citizenship as a way of capturing how issues of language may be accorded a central place on the arena of education and politics. The...

Abstract: An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching presents an engaging, student-friendly guide to the fields of foreign language learning and teaching. For students beginning their study of these fields, the book provides essential background information, dealing with language learning and teaching in a clear and comprehensible way. An Introduction will also be of value to teachers in training and those already working in the field, providing an up-to-date overview which focuses on contemporary issues while at the same time providing an important historical perspective. The book covers both theoretical and practical aspects of the field and provides suggestions throughout for discussion and workshop activities. Matters related to classroom and task-based teaching are dealt with at length, making the book suitable for use on practical training courses, especially where a degree of theoretical background is also required. Although most of the examples used deal with English as a foreign language, the book offers a suitable introduction for teachers of any foreign language. In this age of unfettered global communication the teaching and learning of foreign languages have never been more important. An Introduction to Foreign Language Teaching and Learning will give you the head start you need to get ahead of the field.

Abstract: This paper presents a Web-based, cross-cultural, curricular initiative entitled Cultura, designed to develop foreign language students' understanding of foreign cultural attitudes, concepts, beliefs, and ways of interacting and looking at the world. Our focus will be on the pedagogy of electronic media, with particular emphasis on the ways in which the Web can be used to reveal those invisible aspects of a foreign culture, thereby giving a voice to the elusive "silent language" 1 and empowering students to construct their own approach to crosscultural literacy. We examine these new areas of cultural knowledge which the Web now renders accessible and attempt to redefine the meaning of foreign language "teaching" in the new world of networked communication.

Abstract: Contents: Preface. Mother Tongue and Subsequent Languages. Foreign Language Influence on Written L1. Language Processing Device in Multilinguals. Thought and Word. Transfer of Skills in the LPD. Language Distance and Multicompetence. Pragmatic Knowledge of Multilinguals. Conclusion.

Abstract: The benefits of enhanced written input, premised on the roles of attention and awareness (notic- ing) in second/foreign language (L2) learning, have produced mixed results in SLA literature. One plausible explanation may be offline data elicitation procedures typically used to measure the impact (or lack thereof) of enhancement. Employing a more robust online research design to address this issue, think-aloud protocols were gathered to establish that first-year college-level participants (38) indeed noticed targeted linguistic forms (Spanish formal imperatives) while reading an enhanced or unenhanced text. Their performances on immedi- ate and delayed recognition and written production tasks were subsequently submitted to both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Results indicated no significant benefits of written input enhancement over unen- hanced written input for (1) the amount of reported noticing of Spanish formal imperatives, (2) readers' com- prehension, or (3) readers' intake. Theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical implications are discussed.

Abstract: 1. What are the four reasons that the author gives for learners’ failure to achieve a high level of grammatical competence? 2. Summarize the six aspects of SLA research that support grammar instruction? 3. Where and when should grammar be taught in the EFL/ESL curriculum? Why? 4. The author describes the kind of activities that need to be present in a unit to support grammar acquisition; what are these activities?

Abstract: Part I-Introduction. 1. Investigating the Form-Focused Instruction: Rod Ellis. Part II - Experimental Studies. 2. Integrating Formal and Functional Approaches to Language Teaching in French Immersion: An Experimental Study: Elaine M. Day and Stan M. Shapson. 3. The Differential Role of Comprehension and Production Practice: Robert M. DeKeyser and Karl J. Sokalski. 4. Attention, Awareness and Foreign Language Behavior: Ronald P. Leow. 5. Does Type of Instruction Make A Difference? Substantive Findings From a Meta-analytic Review: John M. Norris and Lourdes Ortega. Part III - Interpretative Classroom Studies. 6. Another Piece of the Puzzle: The Emergence of the Present Perfect: Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig. 7. Negotiation of Form, Recasts, and Explicit Correction in Relation to Error Types and Learner Repair in Immersion Classrooms: Roy Lyster. 8. Learner-Generated Attention to Form: Jessica Williams. 9. The Case of the Missing "No": The Relationship Between Pedagogy and Interaction: Paul Seedhouse. Index

Abstract: This text brings together two significant domains of educational practice: foreign language education and critical pedagogy--linking them in a way that can help foreign language educators develop a critical awareness of the nature, purposes, and challenges facing foreign language pedagogy. Unique among texts in the field, this is the first to deal explicitly with the social, political, ideological, and economic aspects of language, language learning, and language teaching in our society and to connect the practice of foreign language education with these critical, and crucial, aspects of language and language use. The Foreign Language Educator in Society: Toward A Critical Pedagogy: *emphasizes what teachers and future teachers of foreign languages in this country ought to know and understand about language-- language attitudes, practices, rights, and policy-- and related issues; *focuses on helping students to move beyond pragmatic pedagogical concerns to the social and political concerns relevant to their teaching; and *provides students with the opportunity to develop critical perspectives on the central facets of the language education process. Intended for foreign language education programs at both basic and advanced levels, as well as courses in critical pedagogy, critical language awareness, sociolinguistics, and social and cultural foundations of education, the text provides helpful pedagogical features to direct the reader in applying the content of each chapter to his or her own context.

Abstract: Introduction: a paradox in SLA research Individuals who attempt to learn a foreign language differ dramatically in their rates of acquisition and in their ultimate attainment This is perhaps the clearest fact about SLA that we currently have, and of course it is particularly striking in relation to the relative uniformity of learning rate and ultimate success in L1 acquisition Bley-Vroman (1989), among other scholars, has argued that these differences demonstrate that the underlying L1 and L2 acquisition processes must be fundamentally different Whether or not L1 and L2 acquisition develop in completely different ways, it is important for both theoretical and practical reasons to attempt to specify and understand the sources that contribute to differences among second language (L2) learners The paradox is that despite this importance, L2 research into the sources of individual differences (IDs) has lagged far behind research seeking universal principles With the exception of the social psychologically oriented work on motivation and other affective variables pursued by Robert Gardner (see Gardner & MacIntyre, 1992, 1993, for an overview), no major research program focusing on IDs and integrating them within a model of SLA has yet been developed This is partly due to limitations inherent in the correlational research designs favored by earlier studies, and the difficulty of finding reliable and valid measures of both the learner traits and the L2 learning outcomes (Larsen-Freeman & Long, 1991; Lightbown & Spada, 1993)

Abstract: A digital camera that recognizes printed or written words, and converts those words into recognizable speech in either native or foreign tongue. The user points the camera at a printed/text object and the camera will speak (or optionally display) the words. Using this device, a blind or visually disabled person can point at an object, press the shutter button to “take a picture” of the words before him/her, and the camera will speak those words in his/her native language. In a second and more advanced configuration, a person can point this camera at a worded object, press the shutter button to “take a picture” of the words before him/her and the camera will speak those words in a foreign language. Alternatively, he/she may point at text in a foreign language and have those words translated and spoken in his/her native language. This camera includes resident software that: a) captures the digital image, b) uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software/algorithms to detect written words (text) within the image, c) converts the text from the language A to language B, and either: c1) use text-to-speech (TTS) software to synthesize speech and audibly “speak” the words to you, or c2) display the words on a display screen in Language B.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using Spanish captions, English captions, or no captions with a Spanish-language soundtrack on intermediate university-level Spanish as a Foreign Language students' comprehension of DVD passage material. A total of 169 intermediate (fourth-semester)students predicated as intact groups in the study. The passage material consisted of a 7-minute DVD episode about preparation for the Apollo 13 space-exploration mission. The students viewed only one of three passage treatment conditions: Spanish captions, English captions, or no captions. The English-language-dependent measures consisted of a written summary generated by the students and a 10-item multiple-choice test. The statistically significant results revealed that the English captions group performed at a substantially higher level than the Spanish captions group, which in turn performed at a considerably higher level than the no captions group on both dependent measures. The pedagogical value of using multilingual soundtracks and multilingual captions in various ways to enhance second language reading and listening comprehension is discussed.

Abstract: Forms of reflective writing such as diaries and journals are widely acknowledged as important tools in promoting both the development and the understanding of teachers. However, little attention has been awarded to the role these forms of writing can play in the development and understanding of researchers. In this paper I draw on my own experience of keeping a research journal during a study of language teaching to illustrate the significant contribution journal writing can make to deepening researchers’ understanding of all facets of the research processes. I also argue that such journals can provide other researchers with illuminating insight into the research process. Given these benefits to both writers and readers of research journals, I claim that the issue of reflective writing by researchers in language teaching merits much more discussion that it has been awarded to date.

Abstract: For more than three decades, researchers and practitioners in the field of English as a foreign language have faced the issue of communicative competence as a goal in language acquisition and how to reach this goal. In this article, the authors address the issue from the point of view of a theoretical and practical meshing of simulation and gaming methodology with theories of foreign language acquisition, including task-based learning, interaction, and comprehensible input, showing how simulation and gaming can be used in those phases of language acquisition in which formal instruction has proved less ineffectual. The objective of this article is to describe the close relationship between the acquisition of foreign language competence and its components and experiential learning through simulation and gaming, with specific reference to two experiments in this area.

Abstract: Researchers have studied the effects of anxiety on foreign language learning since the 1970's. In spite of substantial advances in teaching methods and techniques, apprehension continues to exist in the university foreign language classroom. This study investigates the perceived levels of anxiety experienced by a randomly-selected sample of beginning foreign language students in a regular university setting. The results indicate that some levels of anxiety were present in beginner classes and that these levels did not decrease after the completion of the second semester of language acquisition. The implication of the findings for anxiety, reduction programs are discussed. ********** Literature Review As early as 1973, H.D. Brown predicted that the construct of anxiety was intricately intertwined with self-esteem, inhibition, and risk-taking, and that it played an important affective role in second language acquisition. The definition of anxiety is difficult as it can range from an amalgam of overt behavioral characteristics that can be studied scientifically to introspecting feelings that are epistemologically inaccessible. Common to anxiety is its generally unpleasant nature and its similarity to fear (Lader, 1975). The research into the relationship of anxiety to foreign language learning has provided mixed and confusing results because of the existence of numerous variables that can affect learning. Two of these variables are trait anxiety (an animic state of some individuals to become anxious in any situation), and state anxiety (apprehension experienced at a particular moment in time, for example, having to speak in a foreign language in front of classmates) (Spielberger, 1983). Another variable that may affect language acquisition is the students' perceptions of their own communicative competence in both native and second language. This effect is compounded by the fact that these students tend to underestimate their competence relative to less anxious students (MacIntyre, Noels and Clement, 1997), and therefore become themselves anxious about their performance. Language learning can also be affected by direct and indirect psychological strategies used by instructors in the classroom. In a setting where the instructor uses a variety of strategies, language learning is facilitated. Thus, direct strategies such as rhyming or using gestures can directly enhance the learning of the foreign language. Indirect strategies, such as planned teaching tasks or increasing cultural awareness, if used by the instructor, can also increase language acquisition (MacIntyre and Noels, 1996), and subsequently reduce apprehension. Another construct related to anxiety in regular foreign language university classes may be related to apathy and disinterest on the part of the students because of inappropriate course content. For example, university students majoring in health professions may not experience any motivation to learn about "Peter and Sally at the Railroad Station," but they could become quite interested if they were instructed in how to ask patients questions about their symptoms. Another question related to foreign language anxiety is whether levels of apprehension augment or decrease as students' experience in the language increases. This is important to know in order to apply or modify curricula or techniques to minimize stress. Most of the studies done on foreign language anxiety at university level have been conducted in special settings; thus, in 1986, Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope conducted a survey among university students that already had shown concern about taking a foreign language class. MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) reported studies in environments not representative of language learning in the regular classroom: One study was conducted on students taking intensive summer school classes, another on a group of adult students enrolled in an intensive summer school program, and yet another on TOEFL students, who, most likely, were anxious a priori as their acceptance to college may have depended on their performance. …

Abstract: The creation of language tests is, and should be, a craft that is accessible and practical not only by a few language test experts, but also by many others who are involved in second/foreign language education, say the authors of this clear and timely book. Fred Davidson and Brian Lynch offer language educators a how-to guide for creating tests that reliably measure exactly what they are intended to measure. Classroom teachers, language administrators, and professors of language testing courses will find in this book an easy and flexible approach to language testing as well as the tools they need to develop tests appropriate to their individual needs. Davidson and Lynch explain criterion-related language test development, a process that focuses on the early stages of test development when the criterion to be tested is defined, specifications are established, and items and tasks are written. This process helps clarify the description of what is being measured by a test and enables teachers to give input on test design in any instructional setting. Informed by extensive research in criterion-referenced measurement, this book invites all language educators to participate in the craft of test development and shows them how to go about it.

Abstract: Introduction The development of L2 pragmatic competence entails the ability to use a wide range of conversational routines and discourse strategies to manage one's communicative interactions with others. Since the early 1980s, researchers have established that a foreign language learner's development of various aspects of pragmatic competence may be facilitated by the instruction of pragmatic routines and strategies in the foreign language classroom (Kasper, this volume). House (1996, p. 247) points out that when such instruction is explicit, it appears to be particularly beneficial since it enables learners to develop an awareness and understanding of the differences between L1 and L2 pragmatic preferences, and thereby “counteract negative L1 transfer through ‘noticing’ (Schmidt, 1993b) and through making attempts to use alternative, more L2 norm-oriented expressions.” In a comparison of the relative benefits of implicit and explicit instruction, House (1996) reports on two sections (i.e., implicit and explicit) of a 14-week communication course instructed in the use of everyday, conversational routines. Through lectures, handouts, and explanatory feedback that provided metapragmatic information on the use and function of these routines, the members of the explicit group had additional opportunities to raise their awareness of preferred L2 pragmatic practices and to “notice” differences between L1 and L2 practices. House argues that the greater improvement shown by the explicit group, particularly in areas where the pragmatic preferences of the learners' L1 differed from those of the target L2, is a result of the learners' heightened awareness of L1-L2 pragmatic differences.

Abstract: This paper looks at the potential of using DVD—digital versatile disc—for language learning. Seven hypotheses are presented on how oral proficiency may be developed within multimedia classroom environments. These hypotheses are culled from several areas of SLA research. They focus on how language acquisition may be accomplished within a FL teaching situation, i.e., in the home country of the language learner with little or no face-to-face access to native speakers of the target language. It is argued that multimedia applications, particularly digital video, provide language teachers and learners with effective means to make language acquisition in the classroom viable in a way that has not been possible before the advent of powerful multimedia computers. Consequently, foreign language classrooms need to be equipped with multimedia computers and projectors so that digital video may be used for presentation and practice as well as the acquisition of listening and speaking proficiency. Through digital video—...

Abstract: Network-based language teaching (NBLT) involves the application of global or local communication networks within foreign and second language education (Warschauer and Kern, 2000). In telecollaboration, a type of NBLT, distally located language learners use internet communication tools to support dialogue, debate, collaborative research and social interaction for the purposes of language development and cultural awareness (e.g. Kinginger et al., 1999). To date, the research on NBLT has been limited, focusing primarily on pedagogical implementations of technology and linguistic features of online communication. In particular, researchers have not robustly explored social and institutional dimensions of telecollaboration (Chapelle, 2000c217) nor have they adequately investigated the pervasive assumption that telecollaborative interaction will necessarily and unproblematically afford language learning (e.g. Kramsch and Thorne, to appear). Drawing on social realism (Layder, 1993), a sociological theory which emphasizes the inter-relationship between structure, i.e. society and institution, and agency, i.e. situated activity and psycho-biography, in researching and explaining social action, I present a sociocultural account of German-American telecollaboration. In particular, I explore the meanings that the macro features of (1) language valuation (Hilgendorf, 1996); (2) membership in electronic discourse communities (Gee, 1999); and (3) culturally determined classroom scripts (Hatch, 1992) may have for the differential functionality of virtual group work in this partnership. Differences in group functionality are reflected at the micro-interactional level in terms of (1) frequency and length of correspondence; (2) patterns of discursive behavior such as question-answer pairs; and (3) opportunities for assisted L2 performance and negotiation of meaning. Ethnographic data (e.g. interviews, electronic and classroom discourse, surveys and participant observations) on individual psycho-biographies are interwoven with macro-level descriptions and statistics to paint a rich picture of learner behavior in intercultural telecollaboration. This project is funded by a United States Department of Education International Research and Studies Program Grant (CFDA No.c 84.017A). The author is a research associate for the German component.

Abstract: When discussing the current state of the art with regard to the use of new technologies in the foreign language classroom, two issues tend to come up again and again. On the one hand, it cannot be denied that even today, in the so-called post-communicative era, the effects of traditional instructivist theories of language learning with their transmission-based modes of learning are still somewhat dominant, in particular at the grassroots level. This is all the more surprising, as a discussion of constructivism as an appropriate platform for new approaches to language learning and acquisition seems to have dominated the debate at least on a theoretical level in recent years. On the other hand, it is becoming more and more apparent that the available offline and online software tools offer exciting opportunities for the language classroom that cannot be adequately attended to without calling the paradigm of instruction into question. This paper is an attempt to contribute to the ongoing debate on this cruci...

Abstract: This monograph examines the language planning situation in South Africa, where language has been instrumental in the country's transition from colonialism to apartheid to democracy. In particular, it addresses, diachronically and synchronically, the issues of language spread and use, language policy and planning, and language maintenance and shift. The monograph is divided into four parts. The first part presents the language profile of South Africa to provide the background against which the aforementioned issues will be discussed. The second part discusses language spread and use, with a focus on language-in-education and the media. The third section looks at language policy and planning, with a focus on South Africa's new language policy and on attempts currently being made to implement it. It shows that there is a mismatch between the language policy and language practices, with the former promoting additive multilingualism, and the latter showing a trend towards unilingualism in English in virtually ...

Abstract: This article takes up some of the issues identified by Douglas (2000) as problematic for Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) testing, making reference to a number of performance-based instruments designed to assess the language proficiency of teachers or intending teachers. The instruments referred to include proficiency tests for teachers of Italian as a foreign language in Australia (Elder, 1994) and for trainee teachers using a foreign language (in this case English) as medium for teaching school subjects such as mathematics and science in Australian secondary schools (Elder, 1993b; Viete, 1998).The first problem addressed in the article has to do with specificity: how does one define the domain of teacher proficiency and is it distinguishable from other areas of professional competence or, indeed, from what is often referred to as ‘general’ language proficiency? The second problem has to do with the vexed issue of authenticity: what constitutes appropriate task design on a teacher-specific instrument...

Abstract: This article reports on a qualitative study of dyadic discourse between university students of Spanish as a foreign language (FL). In light of the common acceptance of pair work as an effective pedagogical practice in the FL classroom, the study was designed to explore the social and cognitive behavior of learners as they participated in second language speaking activities. The construct of repair as it is formulated in the ethnomethodological approach to conversation analysis provided the lens through which data were examined. Trouble sources were identified and repair sequences were classified in terms of which learner brought attention to the trouble source and which learner resolved it. A clear preference for self-repair and for self-initiated repair was found. Collaborative repair, as well as unsolicited other-repair, operated almost exclusively on the lexicon, whereas self-initiated self-repair included morphosyntax. The study supports the Vygotskian notion that talk is used for cognitive as well as for social purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]