A study, presented here in two volumes and entirely in French, investigated the usefulness of introducing different varieties of Spanish in the classroom to improve listening comprehension skills, and the capacity of students to understand language variations. The experiment was conducted during two quarters at the University of Laval (Quebec),…

This report explores the use of reading comprehension instruction as a gateway for developing oral-language proficiency in language-minority students. Based on classroom observations, analyses of videotapes of literacy teaching sessions, conversations with teachers and administrators, and analyses of teaching demonstration lessons, six…

A technique for teaching English to English majors in a Taiwan university involves students' oral production of descriptive stories to accompany a piece of classical or folk music. The project provides practice in preparing a report in English, practice in speaking before a group, sensitivity toward and ability to talk about aural stimuli, and…

A study investigated the effect of dialogue journal writing on English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students' speaking skills. Subjects were 136 students enrolled in a history program at an Egyptian university, divided randomly into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received training in dialogue journal writing in addition to…

"Instructional conversations" (ICs) are presented as one way for language minority students to achieve educational goals related to a depth of student understanding and appreciation of issues. ICs are discussion-based lessons geared toward creating opportunities for students' conceptual and linguistic development. They focus on an idea…

The teaching of literacy, primarily to second language learners, in the Vancouver, British Columbia, Municipal Workplace Language Training Program is examined. The program arose out of reports to the city's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program about language difficulties among workers who couldn't pass tests required for promotion or…

This paper argues that second language instruction that aims to foster speaking skills and natural spoken interaction should be based upon the grammar of the spoken language, and not on grammars that reflect written norms. Using evidence from a corpus of conversational English, this examination focuses on how four grammatical features that occur…

Six annotated bibliographies prepared by graduate students address topics related to methodology for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Each bibliography defines a topic area, gives pedagogical criteria for selecting entries, and provides brief annotations for relevant recent citations. The six…

Delaware's state standards for the Latin curriculum in the public schools are presented. An introductory section outlines the goals of the Latin program for reading, cultural awareness, grammar, writing, and oral language and briefly discusses the philosophy of and approaches to Latin instruction in elementary and middle schools. Three subsequent…

An oral language continuum designed to help elementary students develop techniques for a variety of speech situations, learn to listen, and learn to be aware of the responsibility of the speaker is presented. The continuum is divided into four sections. Student needs, implications for teaching, and suggested activities are arranged sequentially.…

A variety of sources, including writing samples and videotapes of writing sessions, were examined to determine what speech events underlie the written compositions of students from fourth through twelfth grades. Findings revealed a correlation between different levels of writing competency and four types of speech events: encoding, conversation,…

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication instruction to classroom practice, this booklet describes several classroom-based studies that have examined children's writing development and synthesizes what they have shown about the process. The first section of the booklet analyzes the term "writing…

The Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC®) is an ETS-developed measure of proficiency in English as a second language (ESL) or foreign language (EFL), designed to assess aspects of English language listening comprehension (LC) and reading comprehension (RC). In general samples of native speakers of Japanese, Korean, French,…

The development and field testing of a proficiency test in English as a Second Language for non-native speakers teaching on Guam is reported. The resulting instrument measures four language skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking). The listening measure uses natural language that might be heard by a classroom teacher. The reading measure…

A project undertaken at Macquarie University's National Centre for Language Teaching and Research (Australia) focuses on the literacy development of adult learners from non-English speaking backgrounds. The project draws on systemic-functional linguistics and work in literacy that derives from this theory. Systemic linguistics provides a theory of…