This study reports on the development, administration, and analysis of a test of collocational knowledge for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners of a wide range of proficiency levels. Through native speaker item validation and pilot testing, three subtests were developed and administered to 98 ESL learners of low-intermediate to advanced…

Presents a method for classifying errors of second language learners for the purpose of: (1) evaluating information in samples of students' communication, (2) diagnosing individual learner needs, (3) developing individualized instructional materials, and (4) deciding which errors to correct first. Suggests applications of the method in…

A study of teacher and student attitudes about instructional materials used in a university-level English-as-a-Second-Language course in South Korea found a low negative correlation between learner and teacher views on both the usefulness and the enjoyable quality of the materials incorporated into lessons. Questionnaires used for both teacher and…

Emphasizes that applied linguistics, especially within the context of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction, faces a critical juncture and that publishing activities will influence the assessment of the discourses available to reconceptualize the field. Examines the process of editing an article about teaching the Gulf War to ESL students…

Research findings on written language and literacy in Europe over the past five years are summarized, including the following areas of study: construct of literacy, assessment of literacy problems, emergent literacy, reading and writing development, and individual differences in literacy acquisition. (140 references) (LB)

Focuses on the use of inexplicitness by native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs) engaged in English conversations, for example impromptu, uninstitutionalized discourses. Shows that a characteristic of NNSs spoken language is the inappropriate level of inexplicitness used and the ways in which inexplicitness is manifested in the…

This document contains the 1994 edition of a publication designed to share information in the field of linguistics that is of practical, theoretical, administrative, or general interest. Articles in these issues include: "Ethnography Vs. Questionnaire" (Thomas E. Murray); "Differences: A Diary Entry"--concerning structuralism…

Three empirical studies concerning reflective and rote learning in Finnish schools are described. In the first, a questionnaire given to school beginners reveals that during their first 12 weeks of school the children's estimates of the excitement and pleasure of learning and their conception of the role of understanding in learning decrease. The…

In the last 35 years, translation has become a profession. Its format has moved somewhat away from books to encompass all other print materials, its topic has broadened from literature to every kind of information, and its readership has spread worldwide. The profession has gained greater prominence due to the increase in international…

The evolution and activities of the National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia Limited during its first three years are described. The institute consists of a complex network of activities across Australia, including; a research and policy coordination center in Canberra; nine research and development centers specializing in various…

A planned 3-year joint project of the Nordic research council for the humanities that focuses on writing development in school-age children is described. Four Nordic countries are involved in the project: Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. In the study, discourse-level performance analyses of student writing in English as a Second Language are…

Foreign language (FL) needs is a new interdisciplinary area of research developing between applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and educational planning and evaluation. FL needs consist of the demands, wishes, and expectations of the whole society, its groups and individuals, reflecting the relationship of their contemporary and future existence…

A major implication in the communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages concerns classroom interaction in which students should participate. Ideally, this interaction should be identical to interaction in real-life communication situations that students will encounter. A prerequisite for determining whether these situations are in…

The serious student of language, English or foreign, and especially the future language teacher must receive a solid training not only in theoretical but also in applied syntax. Such a course should be offered at the advanced level and deal with the syntax of the language involved in a rigorously systematic way. The search for a systematic, yet…

To determine the usefulness of cohesion frequency analysis in differentiating proficiency in the oral and written composition of English as a second language (ESL) learners, 22 adult learners of ESL were asked to write and tell a story. After transcription, the data were analyzed by holistic evaluation, cohesion form and frequency count, and error…