This paper argues that computers can be a useful tool for encouraging students to be active and independent learners, particularly in language learning. The key is to find appropriate activities and content to motivate students to learn actively and independently. Access to computers may present challenging obstacles for some teachers (supply,…

This book contains articles from Europe and North America that focus on writing instruction in Danish, French, Italian, German, and English as foreign or second languages at all levels of instruction. The aim of this volume is mainly to encourage an understanding of an expanded function of writing in the field of language education, in theoretical…

The Commanding English Program at the University of Minnesota is designed to meet the educational and social needs of academically underprepared students whose native language is not English. Most of the students in this population are Southeast Asian refugees with interrupted education who have finished high school in the United States. The…

Describes findings based on a self-rating scale by 38 teaching English as a second language (TESL) student teachers at a Malaysian university, responses to a self-rating scale by 20 TESL teachers, and case studies of 20 bilingual student teachers. Penaflorida's response focuses on strategies for dealing with learners with limited linguistic and…

Reviews experiences teaching diverse groups of college English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. Writing assignments encouraged students to depict a particular aspect of multiculturalism in an autobiographical manner. Until teachers give greater credence to the complex voices of their students, multiculturalism will be an academic discourse the…

The case study examined the development of English writing skills in a native Russian-speaking college student with no previous instruction in English as a Second Language. It drew on writing samples from 2 years of English language instruction. Theories of first and second language acquisition, especially in written expression, are analyzed in…

College instructors concerned about student writing quality are provided with information on writing in the content areas and writing across the curriculum. Following an overview of writing in the content area, the chapters focus on writing and learning--"workaday" writing (personalizing knowledge through writing, forms of workaday…

The development and use of the College Student Experiences Questionnaire to assess the quality of students' effort and the attainment of college-related goals are discussed. The questionnaire covers college facilities (e.g., educational, cultural, and recreational), and personal/interpersonal experiences at college. Responses to 14 scales covering…

It is accepted that using electronic detection methods has benefits within an overall strategy to promote academic integrity in an institution. Little attention has been paid to obtaining student perceptions to evaluate the cost/benefit of using such methods. This study reports on the evaluation of a trial of Turnitin software. 728 students…

To examine some of the linguistic aspects of Chicano English (a variety of English commonly spoken by Mexican American bilinguals in the Southwest) which present problems in the acquisition of written Standard English, sample writings were collected from 15 University of Texas-El Paso students enrolled in an English as a Second Language course. To…

This paper offers an example of how to apply action research to improve English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL)/English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing instruction. This research was conducted over a 5-year period while the researcher taught 9 semester-long sections of advanced EFL writing to Taiwanese undergraduates. Using Reid's (1987) Perceptual…

This monograph consists of 13 chapters featuring a diverse range of perspectives centralizing student standpoints about their experiences in higher education and access programs. Chapter 1, "Student Perspectives on College Readiness" (Jeanne L. Higbee), provides the results of a survey of developmental education students regarding college…

A study investigated how students of English as a second language (ESL) improved their use of learning strategies through awareness-raising in group interviews and informal training. Subjects were 68 Taiwanese university students in two freshman English classes. Subjects responded to an English learning strategy questionnaire in the beginning and…

A collection of essays on bilingualism and its relationship to development of reading and writing skills includes: "Awareness of Text Structure: Effects on Recall" (Patricia L. Carrell); "Second-Language Readers' Memory for Narrative Texts: Evidence for Structure-Preserving Top-Down Processing" (Yukie Horiba, Paul W. van den…

Instruction in English as a second language for differentially prepared college students should be conducted in an environment in which students have input from a wide range of authentic spoken and written language samples, varying in difficulty level. The instructional process should be viewed by the students as neither intimidating nor…