Although surveys have shown that regional variation is rarely covered in more than a cursory way in language textbooks, research has suggested that exposure to and knowledge about dialectal variation can be beneficial for second language (L2) learners' development. However, little is known about the effects of explicit instruction and exposure on…

The teaching of foreign language advanced grammar (AG) at the college level nowadays continues largely to focus on form, with little attention to its functions and meanings. The practice agrees with neither the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (National Standards, 2006) nor the advances made in basic language teaching…

This study investigated the effects of processing instruction (PI) and structured input (SI) on the acquisition of the subjunctive in adjectival clauses by 92 second-semester distance learners of Spanish. Computerized visual input enhancement (VIE) was combined with PI and SI in an attempt to increase the salience of the targeted grammatical form…

The Spanish language teacher can enrich the study of Hispanic culture by drawing upon local community resources. Suggestions, resource guides, and bibliographies are offered to enable the classroom teacher to utilize local Cuban, Chicano, and Puerto Rican resources in the teaching of Hispanic culture. (Author)

Describes the use of post-NAFTA bilingual or trilingual labels in content-enriched instruction in Spanish classes. Such labels provide informal exposure to the second language as well as comprehensive linguistic and cultural input.(Author/VWL)

This article discusses reasons for explicit pronunciation instruction, despite the continued neglect of this area in the communicative classroom. "ACTFL/NCATE Program Standards for the Preparation of Foreign Language Teachers (2002)" and "Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century" (National Standards, 1999) dictate that teachers…

This study is an examination of the use of captioned video with beginning students of Spanish. Two groups of students watched a Spanish-language video with or without Spanish captioning and the groups' comprehension scores were compared. Students in the captioning group described how they used the pictures, sound, and captioning to understand the…

Describes the findings in foreign language research and the goals of global education that motivated the use of cities as a point of departure for activities and materials development. Suggests ideas for integrating city-based contextual information into activities for introductory classes and sources of information. Topics for study at…

Cognitive and affective responses to one authentic and three edited texts were examined with four levels of university-level learners of Spanish. Results indicated that all students comprehended significantly more from the authentic passage than from the edited ones and also responded more favorably to the authentic passages. (Contains 47…

This article introduces the reader to two online sources of materials for working on improving listening and reading skills. The materials are intended for learners already at Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Level 3 (Superior) proficiency in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Russian, and Spanish, who desire to reach Level 4 (Distinguished, or…

Teenage detective novels sustain reading interest because of their unique components: peer-level sleuths, suspense, intrigue, fast action, and opposing forces of tension. A Spanish teenage adventure series by Pedro Casals illustrates the merits of classroom use of this genre. (15 references) (Author/MSE)

Describes a study that investigated the types of rhetorical structures that beginning-level Spanish students encounter in their textbook reading materials. The intent of the study was to determine whether there was a match between the types of structures that English-speaking students are most typically able to demonstrate awareness of and the…

A self-instructional unit of six sections offers exercises, vocabulary, activities and self-tests that deal with shopping in Spain. The unit is designed for the first-year high school Spanish class. (KM)

Novice second-language learners can understand and benefit from authentic reading and listening language texts that are not typically introduced until students have intermediate or advanced language skills. Early exposure to such texts can help learners develop useful listening strategies for more complex tasks. (Author/CB)

Illustrates how short contemporary texts dealing with social, historical, cultural, or political issues can be applied to the development of business language proficiency and cross-cultural awareness within an international business curriculum. (Author/VWL)