Much has been written about the influence of various factors that affect learners' retention of course contents in various contexts and at various levels. However, few studies have focused on the factors that may both affect and indicate the organization of materials or contents presented to learners. This study aims to determine the effects of…

This book presents an international range of conversation analytic (CA) studies of classroom interaction which all discuss their empirical findings in terms of their theoretical and methodological contribution to the field of second language studies and their potential pedagogical relevance. The volume is thus unique in its focus on the…

This collection of 10 reports focuses on research in the area of language and understanding, with emphasis on the effects of such research on language teaching and applied linguistics. The reports address issues in psycholinguistics, pragmatics, second language acquisition, syntax, text linguistics, language testing, and sociolinguistics. The…

Practical and technical aspects of language testing research are considered in 23 articles. Topical areas include: testing of general proficiency; the hypothesis of a single unitary factor accounting for reliable variance in tests; the structure of language proficiency; pros and cons of cloze testing; a new functional testing approach; and…

A study is presented which attempts to clarify the notion of communicative proficiency in a foreign language and which outlines an instructional model that incorporates the insights of the study. Communicative proficiency is defined as fluent mastery of the foreign language in different contexts. The definition was operationalized into discourse…

Most of the criticism of Australian schools focuses on students' skills in literacy and numeracy. This study assessed levels of student achievement in Victoria's primary and secondary schools in 1988 in some key areas of literacy and numeracy. This report maps the performances of students in Years 5 and 9 on scales of development in mathematics,…

Papers are presented on the loss of language skills by those who have studied and then discontinued the use of a second language. The scope of the papers is summarized and dimensions of language attrition research is briefly discussed. Theoretical aspects of psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics with special relevance to language loss are…

This text, designed to provide teachers and teacher-trainees with a comprehensive and up-to-date grasp of the theoretical foundations of foreign language teaching, is based on the assumption that a teacher-trainee needs to gain broad but systematic knowledge of the process of second language acquisition in order to understand and adapt teaching…

This new book supports the professional development and training of Modern Languages teachers in higher education. It links insights from pedagogical and applied linguistic research to the practicalities of the undergraduate language syllabus. The aim is to interpret research for the classroom practitioner so that teaching can be based on sound…

This monograph attempts to integrate experience and research findings in several related disciplines and bring them to bear on the problem of how to make language programs in schools simultaneously accommodate the needs of both the language curriculum and the general curriculum. It addresses four issues: (1) how specific languages, in all their…