Shows how the instructional design process can assist in developing a Web-based distance teacher education course, based on the development of a Web-based course for teachers of language minority learners. Topics include audience needs analysis, establishing instructional goals, and formative evaluation and revision. (Author/LRW)

Draws on a case study of six student teachers in secondary school and their codeswitching between first language and second language over the course of 14 foreign language lessons, where French was the second language and English was the first language. Describes how student teachers were exposed to theoretical positions and empirical studies on…

The importance of preparing students for citizenship in a global society is well recognized in teaching sociology. Although options have emerged to facilitate such pedagogical experiences, few concentrate on maximizing students' experiences in non-English-speaking nations. How can we help sociology students get the most out of an experience in a…

Despite the new possibilities that speech synthesis brings about, few Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) applications integrating speech synthesis have found their way onto the market. One potential reason is that the suitability and benefits of the use of speech synthesis in CALL have not been proven. One way to do this is through…

A large study which investigated the nature of dyadic interactions in a university second language (ESL) classroom setting found that students form very distinct and stable relationships or patterns of dyadic interaction. This paper uses a case study approach to illustrate two of the patterns found in the study: a collaborative pattern and a…

This case study investigated the revising patterns and intentions in L1 and L2 of Japanese writers with various writing experiences. Three participants were selected through purposeful sampling to do within-case comparisons. One participant was an experienced writer in both Japanese and English; one was an experienced writer in Japanese, but not…

To integrate second language writing with composition theories, a college writing instructor became a teacher-researcher in an ESL writing workshop course. Studying the writing experience of a Malaysian-American student in a process-oriented writing class helped to clarify what happens when non-native speakers begin to take on the identity of a…

This paper focuses on how teachers and administrators share a commitment towards the general principle of accountability in regard to efficiency in educational programs. The notion of efficiency is shown to have limited application to complex multidimensional processes, including those of classroom language learning and of language program…

This paper argues, using a feminist poststructuralist perspective, that second language acquisition (SLA) theorists have struggled to explore the relationship between the language learner and the social world because they do not question how structures of power in the social world impact on individual language learners and the opportunities they…

A study investigated the use of the interlanguage of a native speaker of Chinese using English. The subject was an art school instructor, and data were drawn from three recordings of language used in his role as teacher. It was found that despite different situations, the nature of the task determined the kind of language-learner language used.…

A study investigated how learners of a second language cope with the linguistic difficulties in oral interaction with a native speaker. The four subjects were training to become bilingual secretaries and were faced with job interviews. The study's objectives were: (1) to analyze the subjects' oral performance and show that learners differ widely…

The problems of classroom teacher-conducted research are examined with reference to a particular case study. The case study involved a field test of "A Practical Guide for Advanced Writers in ESL" over a semester in two sections of an intermediate English as a second language (ESL) writing class for college-bound students at the University of…

A descriptive case study reports and examines a five-year-old Finnish child's attainment of English language and communication skills during his first eight months in the United States, within a pragmatic theoretical framework, focusing on the various functions of utterances. The child's language usage is divided into social and egocentric speech…

The changes in written and spoken Spanish proficiency of two college students during a semester of study in Spain are examined in their oral and written performance and in their grades at a Spanish university. Both students were initially rated, according to American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines, at…

Explores issues of competency and proficiency in the learning of foreign languages at the undergraduate level, involving competencies currently established for language learning and the establishment of "tracks" in literature, language, and culture. (CB)