Instructional Systems Design is the practice of creating of instructional experiences that make the acquisition of knowledge and skill more efficient, effective, and appealing [18]. Specifically in designing courses, an hour of training material can require between 30 to 500 hours of effort in sourcing and organizing reference data for use in just…

While English modal verbs have been studied extensively, Chinese modal verbs have only been analyzed in a general way. A discussion of the six properties of Chinese modal verbs by Li and Thompson (1981, 1997) examined this area, though some of the properties that they proposed appear to be inaccurate or flawed. This paper concentrates on one of…

The articulation in recent years of Optimality Theory (OT) has paved the way for a reanalysis of linguistic phenomena that were previously accounted for by derivational theories through various modes of rule interaction. The theory has been shown to offer insightful accounts of various processes involving segmental and prosodic structure and has…

This semantic analysis assumes the overall framework of an extended standard theory of grammar, focusing on the lexicon and making a case for semantic mapping. It assumes Chomsky's (1986) theory that the projection of a verb and its arguments into syntax is determined by its lexical specifications. It further accepts the arguments of Williams…

A HyperCard stack using digitized video to provide students of Russian with meaningful exercise in the use of verbal aspect and verbs of motion and position is described. Several problems presented by the Russian verb are defined. Examples of traditional textbook exercises are presented--translations, fill-ins, and picture-based approaches, and…

It is proposed that the functions of the Mandarin verbal suffix "-le" are three: (1) for marking non-continual factual actions or events; (2) for indicating the "peak" in an event line; and (3) for explicitly marking anteriority of an action or event. Observations of written language drawn from newspaper articles and…

Beginning students of English as a second language want to have a natural use of the language to get things done, express thoughts, and get information. Most English learners have to invent an interlanguage to express time, because most language courses focus only on the present tense at first. A cyclical approach to grammar instruction allows the…

Explains three elements of English that are particularly difficult for Chinese students to learn: the use of articles, which has no equivalent in Chinese; expression of tense, for which there is no Chinese equivalent; and the concepts of time, locality, and direction inherent in English usage of prepositions. (MSE)

A review of the history and current status of second language instruction practices reveals ways to facilitate the acquisition of fluency and communication ability. Because verb forms are central to most languages, demystification of verb forms should be the first practical task of language teachers. Analysis shows that the numerous structural and…

This paper illustrates the functional similarities between the English and German past perfect tense which are extremely difficult for native Japanese-speaking learners of the two languages. By the time that Japanese university students begin study of the German language, most have had at least 6 years of English language study. Yet, German is…

Second language students come to the class with knowledge of a first language and with understanding of communication strategies. Creative exercises must build on this basis from the beginning of the course. Short dialogues, structure drills, and controlled grammar sequences based on a real situation should be integrated into the course from the…