Discusses the use of intercultural e-mail via the Internet to provide language students with real audiences, authentic language experiences, and immediate feedback from native speakers. Highlights include examples from high school classes in Florida and Mexico City, task-based learning activities, and problems and possible solutions. (LRW)

Describes Storytelling and Rural Areas (SARA) program for children and families at Longreach School of Distance Education (Central Queensland). SARA promotes children's oral language skills, self-confidence, and social construction. Explores ways storytelling assists this development. Notes how SARA provides links between home and school and…

This handbook on francophone Africa is designed to provide supplemental material for a French class. Its objectives are: (1) to provide the teacher with ready-to-use material as an alternative to a textbook; (2) to present French speaking countries other than France and especially to present francophone African countries from an African viewpoint;…

Reports on a study designed to investigate the second language development of francophone children in an experimental intensive English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program in Quebec. Results indicated that subjects outperformed students in regular ESL programs on listening and reading comprehension tests and in oral fluency and had more positive…

The updated version of a 1978 resource guide contains citations and annotations of print and non-print supplementary resources appropriate for Alberta's elementary and secondary program in French as a second language (FSL). The resources identified may be used for remediation, enrichment, and reinforcement of program content. The selection…

The English spoken in India is too close to standard English to be characterized as a separate variety. Although phonological variations give English in India some regional flavors, they do not have any structural or semantic base and do not constitute a new language. Cultural differences have not caused English-language literature written in…

Assessed language quality of 15 four-year olds with three conversational partners: a center-care teacher, an older child, and a younger child. Data coded included number of turns, utterances, gaps, statements versus questions, contingent responses, and amount of self-talk. Found that children take more turns with an adult but produce fewer…

Responses of 118 Cantonese-speaking students at Hong Kong English-medium secondary schools to a questionnaire indicated those factors that contribute to the ineffectiveness of the English-medium education include: (1) lack of exposure to English outside the classroom; (2) absence of the Hawthorne effect on the immersion programs; and (3)…

It is an undeniable fact that storytelling makes a remarkable contribution to the domains of child development at an early age since it is stated that storytelling is the original form of teaching. Firstly, the contributions and effects of storytelling techniques to the cultural, cognitive, linguistic, socio-emotional and psychological domains of…

Most of the low-income, under-educated mothers in rural areas of Sri Lanka are disadvantaged and unable to provide their children with a healthy home environment, guidance, or the material support required for their children's education. This study hypothesized that educating low-income, under-educated mothers to develop their own literacy skills…

An exploration of the effectivenes of college overseas study programs on improvement of foreign language skills addresses student motivation, academic expectations, curricular changes, language pledge requirements, communication with native speakers, and the purpose and image of study abroad programs. Suggestions are made for improving…

The creative writing of English poetry by English as a second language college students helps them to: overcome initial psychological inhibitions to language learning; stimulate interest and involvement in study; develop a means of self-expression; and prepare for study in other areas. (Author/CB)

This paper advocates an integrated curriculum in which LOGO would play a role in the intellectual development of children. In particular, it is argued that curricular interventions that occur in the midst of spontaneous learning are most needed when major problems of transfer, generalization, and abstraction are to be solved or when children need…

The Amity Scholar Program features a teaching aide program in which students from French-, German-, and Spanish-speaking countries become intern teachers of language and culture in two-year college foreign language classes in the United States. Screening and application procedures are outlined as well as host responsibilities for the program. (CB)

The development of first language skills among native English-speaking students enrolled in early French immersion programs was explored. Preliminary results support the hypothesis that early bilingual schooling enhances the students'performances on various kinds of first language learning tasks. (Author/CB)