This study investigated factors associated with the acquisition of second-language pronunciation and methodological problems associated with the study of foreign accents. Thirty-six native speakers of Russian fluent in English read specifically constructed English sentences and a prose passage, and talked spontaneously about their daily routine.…

Reports on the results of research conducted to evaluate the use of captioning (on-screen target language subtitles) as a pedagogical aid to facilitate the use of authentic video materials in the foreign language classroom, especially in advanced or upper-level courses. A description of the research methodology, implementation, data analysis, and…

Discusses differences in academic discourse presentation, including preference for the use of first person singular "I" in some languages vs. the "we" perspective in others. Data are presented concerning employment of the two perspectives in English, German, French, Russian, and Bulgarian research articles in linguistics.…

Explores how Americanization and Russification differed in terms of their imperialist language policies and how these policies led two colonialized societies, Puerto Rico and Estonia, to respond in dramatically different ways to the pressures to learn English and Russian respectively. (Author/VWL)

A Modern Language Association survey of enrollment trends in U.S. colleges found that Spanish, French, and German remain the three most popular language courses. Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic have shown greatest increases between 1960-95. The Less Commonly Taught Languages project provides information, including instructional materials and web…

This study sought to establish a hierarchy of error gravity for different types of common errors in American learners' spoken Russian by surveying 75 native and nonnative speakers of Russian, including teachers and nonteachers. Grammatical accuracy was considered one of the most important issues in learners' spoken Russian by all the respondents.…

Reviews sociological analysis of the transformation of the link between language and identity among Soviet Jewish immigrants in Israel, focusing on their common desire for Russian language maintenance after their immigration to Israel. Argues that although the immigrants acquire fast, the former Jewish intelligensia's perception of the dominant…

Studies of second-language (L2) acquisition have often addressed the issue of parameter-setting among L2 learners. Much work has been done on the setting of syntactic parameters in L2 acquisition-e.g., the verb-raising parameter (see White (1990/1991), among others), the V2-parameter (see Robertson and Sorace (1999), among others), and the…

This paper addresses the problem of placing and teaching heritage speakers of immigrant languages in college-level foreign language programmes, drawing conclusions from research on heritage speakers of Russian. For pedagogical purposes, heritage speakers cannot be viewed either as native speakers of the target language or as foreign language…

Despite the fact that the twentieth-century ecumenical movement was coeval with the beginning of a "language revolution" and the "theology of crisis," it was only at the beginning of the present decade that the problem of unity in verbal formulations reached the agenda of the World Council of Churches (WCC). At that time the…

Discusses similarities and differences between vocal music and spoken language. Uses for vocal music to aid in the phonological instruction of Russian are suggested. (LMO)

Reports on the state of the art in software development for computer-assisted language instruction, with some emphasis on Russian, and describes 10 areas in which much current software is deficient. It is suggested that our best teachers be given time to work in teams to develop good software. (Author/SED)

Provides a listing of doctoral degrees granted in foreign languages, literatures, cultures, linguistics, and foreign language education in 1982. Entries are ordered by (1) major field, (2) institution, (3) dissertation author, (4) dissertation title, and (5) dissertation supervisor. (EKN)

Describes a Trinity College (Dublin) training program for language teachers based on a foreign language learning experience, in this case attendance at a 12-week course in beginning Russian. Discusses course design and trainees' course evaluations, drawing from comments contained in their class journals and final reports. (MES)

Examines the foreign language learning needs of undergraduate and postgraduate learners of Russian, focusing on their need to develop reading skills and on the effectiveness of traditional instructional materials designed to foster the development of foreign language reading skills. Alternative strategies for integrating reading into the total…