The comparison of languages can be an effective instructional technique if used well. The comparison of isolated elements is less effective than the examination of languages at several levels: system, norm, and usage. (MSE)

EUROLINKS 1988, a pilot project involving school/industry links in the field of foreign languages, investigated ways of promoting the North East of England and its companies and products to European partners. The project demonstrated to students how foreign language skills relate to the working world and to regional and national prosperity. (CB)

Explores the ability of children to use discourse markers (DMs) as indicators of register, examining the distribution of various DMs in the role-play speech of Spanish-dominant bilingual elementary students as they played with puppets representing several characters with different social relationships. Children used DMs to specifically mark…

From 1999 to 2002, two university professors, one trained in language education and French and the other in Hispanic literature, undertook a comparative qualitative study of their parallel third-year reading course. Using a variety of data sources, most importantly extensive interviews, they documented their teaching beliefs, practices, and…

The Specialist Schools Initiative in England has urged schools to plan their teaching of foreign languages in relation to the linguistic needs and preferences of their local communities. The changing multilingual fabric of many parts of Britain make such a goal a potentially difficult and controversial process. This paper explores the views of a…

This report addresses the reliability of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), not as a measure of speaking ability, but rather as practiced by testers trained by the ACTFL, such as by the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR), in English as a Second Language (ESL), French, German,…

This paper describes an experience for professionals based on an intensive 1-week language immersion course that has been offered in Akron, Ohio and Denver, Colorado. The course has been designed for professionals at the intermediate level in French and Spanish. The course requires that participants have acquired the basic grammatical structures…

This paper describes learner response, as indicated by questionnaires, to a package of tape-based listening materials in French, Spanish and Italian. The learners were in "community classes" (2 hours per week) at a wide variety of levels. Their response was, in general, cautiously favorable, and indicates the general acceptability of such…

Based on the assumptions that a universal grammar has a number of functional parameters and that in each language, some are not activated, a study was undertaken to investigate two hypotheses. They are (1) that in a grammatical situation where an adult's first language parameter is not activated in the second language, the learner will "lose" the…

Howard University in Washington, D.C. recently initiated a program in Afro-French and Afro-Hispanic literature and civilization. The student may take either to fulfill his language requirement. Student reaction has been enthusiastic. Comparative literature courses with a Black theme, scientific French, and Spanish for the Social Services are also…

A study investigating the relationship between motivation, study time, and student achievement in second language courses has as subjects 97 tenth- and eleventh-grade English speakers in introductory French, German, and Spanish courses. Two surveys measured motivational factors and the amount of time spent studying the second language. Motivation…

An investigation of the predictive power of the Modern Language Association (MLA) Cooperative Test Scores in French, German, and Spanish in relation to performance in student teaching is described, and criteria used by the raters to define successful performance are identified. Subjects were 103 students who completed foreign language teaching…

Second language students may develop writing skills gradually, or they may learn and practice these skills through the use of sentence combining techniques. A study is reported of the consistent use of sentence combining exercises with intermediate language classes at the university level. A total of 325 students enrolled in intermediate French,…

A SURVEY CONDUCTED AT ABINGTON HIGH SCHOOL IN PENNSYLVANIA REVEALED THAT OVER HALF THE SCHOOL'S 10TH AND 11TH GRADE STUDENTS DISCONTINUE THEIR LANGUAGE STUDY AFTER THEY FINISH 3RD YEAR FRENCH OR SPANISH. THE MOST COMMON REASONS GIVEN BY THESE STUDENTS WERE SCHEDULING DIFFICULTIES, LOW GRADES IN THE LANGUAGE COURSE, AND THE FEELING THAT FURTHER…

The working papers of this pre-conference workshop consist of sample lesson plans in the form of mini-dramas and culture capsules. These activities illustrate ways for broadening one's approach to the teaching of culture by providing samples for the preparation of original items. Material is provided for the teaching of French, Spanish, and German…