Results from the 2000 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Assessment (PISA) indicated that inequalities in performance associated with students' family background were relatively large in Switzerland compared to other participating countries. The study upon which this article is based examines…

This paper takes a specific university Department of Romance Languages as a case study to examine how the measures it adopted in view of increasing enrollment in Spanish in the nineties coincide with the recommendations in the MLA's 2007 report; it also examines how they have fared after some 12 years of implementation, advances explanations for…

The 23rd EUROCALL conference was held in Cyprus from the 24th to the 27th of August 2016. The theme of the conference this year was "CALL Communities and Culture." It offered a unique opportunity to hear from real-world CALL practitioners on how they practice CALL in their communities, and how the CALL culture has developed in local and…

Lists the doctoral degrees granted in foreign languages, literature, culture, linguistics, and foreign language education in 1981. The order of entries is major field or area of specialization, institution, author, title of dissertation, and director or supervisor of dissertation. (EKN)

In this longitudinal study we analyse the early phases of reading development in Italian and explore the transition from phonological to lexical reading. A group of 28 Italian children was tested in four phases. Language and cognitive skills were first assessed in the preschool. Reading performance was then tested in three different sessions, in…

Analysis of two Restructuring constructions in Italian, "equi" and "raising" structures, suggests that while lexical functional grammar (LFG) does not offer the kind of analysis previously used on this kind of structure, it does offer an insightful and interesting analysis of Restructuring in Italian. This approach treats…

The concepts and roles of motivation and attitude in relation to second language learning are examined. Motivation can be characterized as primary or derivative, and intrinsic or extrinsic. Attitude is a motivational factor generated by context. Motivation and attitude play an important role in all situations which are not natural, such as school…

Compares the fertility levels between first and second generation Italian immigrants and suggests that the pattern of change found indicates their integration into the mainstream of American life and value systems. (Author/SF)

Thirty-nine key terms in information science are introduced in five different languages: French, German, Italian, Dutch, and English. They are given in alphabetical order of the French terminologies, except for the two expressions "information science" and "computer," which head the list. At the end, an alphabetical index is provided for each…

Discusses, using German and Italian as an example, sentences containing the indefinite agent (German "man") and reflexive and passive constructions, showing contrasts between equivalent structures in the two languages. (IFS/WGA)

Discusses current research about the teaching of Italian as a foreign language. A form designed for the evaluation of textbooks for Italian as a foreign language is presented, and eight textbooks for the teaching of Italian as a foreign language are evaluated according to this form. (CFM)

Cites problems in the current method of teaching the subjunctive to English-speaking students of Italian. The ineffectiveness of associating the indicative mode with reality and the subjunctive mode with possibility is discussed. Psychological explanations, not grammatical ones, are presented to explain this use. (CFM)

Summarizes the contents of four books on language teaching written by Harold Palmer between 1917 and 1924. Palmer's writings bridged some of the gap between theory and practice in language teaching. (CFM)