In this study the author tries to assess the effects of Theme-based Oral Approach (TOA) on the oral English proficiency of non-English majors as well as students' leaning motives and interests resulted from the approach in EFL class of China. The study follows the quantitative and qualitative method in light of questionnaire, interview, class…

The population of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners has increased significantly in higher education settings in the United States today. It has been reported that Japanese ESL students are generally unsuccessful when studying in English speaking countries. The typical way of reading in English for Japanese students is the…

Interview guides and a questionnaire were developed in order to find what factors demotivated students in Japanese high school English classrooms. Five college students who were attending two private universities and one public university shared their views about demotivation in the interviews. Forty-two students at a public university responded…

Language teaching approaches and methods have cast light on the language teaching theory and practice. There are still many controversies about their usefulness and appropriateness. This paper tries to analyze their effectiveness and weakness of several most influential teaching approaches and methods: Grammar-translation Method, Direct Method,…

Discusses the value of using translation exercises in the second language classroom, specifically for the insight they afford into the organizations of meanings in different languages and cultures. (EKN)

Presents an overview of the role of translation in foreign language teaching and learning. Argues that translation is useful for: (1) practicing grammatical structures, (2) explaining vocabulary items, (3) testing at all levels, and (4) developing communicative competence. Also, translation is to be taught as a skill in its own right. (SED)

Questions the relevance of the traditional structural/grammatical approach to Russian course design. Suggests instead a functional notional approach and provides an overview of its rationale and principles. (EKN)

Discusses and analyzes the Bosco/DiPietro descriptive framework for the analysis of foreign language instruction. Refines the psychological and linguistic features originally presented by Bosco and DiPietro. Proposes the creation of two new features--analytic and communicative--to replace the functional feature central to Bosco and DiPietro's…

Defines two metaphors taken from curriculum theories in general: the mind-body metaphor and the production metaphor. Relates each to several approaches of learning a foreign language. Concludes with some observations concerning the functioning of metaphor as it relates to contemporary foreign language teaching approaches. (EKN)

Discusses a semi-independent eclectic teaching model, designed to alleviate some of the problems of intermediate-level language classes. It attempts to capitalize on the virtues of a variety of approaches by combining features of each that best accomplish specific language teaching goals. (EKN)

Describes research done at the University of Liverpool with undergraduates learning beginning German to compare the effectiveness of grammar-translation and audiolingual teaching methods. Discusses lack of experimental support for the hypothesis that the learners' background in arts or science can be correlated with the comparative effectiveness…

Argues against the use of an alternative model of Language Awareness (LAw), which rejects Transformational Grammar-based applications of language study in favor of a semiotics-based approach, and presents examples of teaching English to native Bengali speakers to support the use of the more traditional LAw. (CB)

Describes an experimental oral communication course designed around weekly, structured field trips to sites where students typically need to communicate in English. Students taking this course were also enrolled in a grammar-based English as a second-language course and were compared with a control group taking only the grammar-based course. (SED)

An examination of the logic of second language processing argues that knowledge of language structure does not necessarily result in effective language comprehension. Teachers must help students to bridge the gap between translation, which emphasizes lexical and syntactic meaning, and interpretation, which involves global comprehension. (CB)

This article (1) discusses the relationship between grammatical and communicative competence; (2) examines aspects of grammar theory; (3) discusses pedagogical problems inherent in traditional notions of grammar; and (4) summarizes the pedagogical and research implications of a new perspective on the role of grammar in foreign language…