The first section of this paper consists of an examination of the relevant research and literature concerning the conclusion that an effective ESL (English as a second language) program for Mexican-American college students must combine the teaching of language and culture. Four domains are isolated and defined: EFL (English as a foreign…

This is an in-process report on over 100 English-as-a-Foreign-Language argumentative compositions written by Spanish university students in first and fourth year philology. The project aim was to compare writing development over 4 years in a cross-sectional design. As data were collected, factors other than developmental stages began to appear,…

This research investigated the effects of homework completion on test scores for 401 undergraduate students, 94 percent African American, at an urban university in 2 levels of introductory Spanish, all with the same instructor. Five to six teacher-generated exams were administered during the course; the lowest test score for each student was…

A study of communication anxiety in second language learning investigated: (1) the role of four factors (sex, language learning experience, language studied, and confidence) in student apprehension about speaking in the classroom; and (2) students' stated reactions to speaking. Subjects were 101 college students in 4 intact French, Spanish, and…

This paper outlines the development of a performance assessment measure of language speaking ability, the Language Ability Assessment System (LAAS), which is highly reliable and can be examined for reliability through modern measurement theories, such as generalizability theory (G-theory) and the many-facet Rasch theory. LAAS was developed to…

The acquisition of the passive sentence structure by 36 adult learners of English as a second language (ESL) was studied. Twelve learners each spoke Arabic, Japanese, and Spanish as their native language. For each language group, four were beginners, four intermediates, and four advanced learners of English. All were studying English at the…

This paper explores the influence of field independent-dependent cognitive style on second language test performance, especially as it relates to performance on the integrative type of measure known as the cloze test. Approximately 250 college students enrolled in a first semester Spanish course formed the sample group for this correlational…

In 1977, an exploratory survey examined the relative effects of family and offspring cultural maintenance upon offspring psychological characteristics and college achievement, using the responses of 1,573 Chicano college students from Texas to a mailed questionnaire. The hypothesis was that holding family income constant, high family Spanish usage…

This study is an attempt to explore systematically language attitudes among the younger and more socially mobile Mexican Americans, to determine what linguistic and demographic variables are correlated with differential language attitudes, and to ascertain to what extent, if any, attitudinal commitment to Spanish correlates with behavioral…

Addressing problem areas Mexican American students identify as important and differences between South American and Mexican American student problems, this research was guided by earlier work on cross-cultural methods and student problems. The study involved 1,189 high school and university students from Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Venezuela,…

An examination of statewide testing program results for New Mexico are presented under the following headings: (1) Assessment of Mental Abilities, School Year 1972-73, Grade 1; (2) Assessment of Academic Aptitude and Achievement, School Year 1972-73, Grade 5; (3) Assessment of Academic Aptitude and Achievement, School Year 1972-73, Grade 8; and…

Describes a commercial Spanish language program for postgraduate students of business administration that attempts to fulfill the immediate professional needs of all students. The content of intermediate and advanced courses is discussed, and a list of textbooks for Spanish commercial correspondence is included. (TR)

SPANLAP (SPANish LAnguage Processing) is a computer program which attempts to engage students of Spanish in a free-form written dialog by allowing them to ask questions. The morphological and syntactic parsing process used in SPANLAP is explained. Sample dialog illustrates limitations of the current model. (Author/LMO)

This study examined the underlying factor structure of the Motivation Orientation Scale (MOS), determining its degree of consistency across two distinct cultures and identifying variables affecting students' motivation in learning a second language. The study investigated how intention theory with its three motivation orientations, and Gardner's…

Analyzes the incorporation patterns of well-educated, but low proficiency, Chinese immigrants (n=4) to Spain and of high-proficiency Chinese university students (n=4) with extensive formal training in Spanish. Findings reveal that whereas the university students showed awareness of error and successfully incorporated native speakers' corrections,…