bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Suggestions to Popularize French
Authors: Beachboard Robert L.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— In an effort to raise the student's interest in French and to emphasize its present day value, Stephens College has launched a successful program including trips, a project week, reading diaries, correlation with other departments, festivities, audition room assignments and other activities.
The Integration of Foreign Languages, Particularly German, in the College Curriculum1
Authors: Guradze Heinz
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Foreign language teaching can be the keystone to integration since languages taught at American colleges are interlocked with the subject matter of almost every other department. Integrating methods can be applied in and out of foreign language classes. Possibilities of German and French are discussed in detail.
Survey of Modern Language Teaching in Private Schools
Authors: de Lancey Livingstone
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary.— A summary of opinions expressed by language departments of representative preparatory schools on the value of language teaching at various grade levels, the scope of the work undertaken, and the methods employed.
The Huxley Tradition of Language Study
Authors: Foley Louis
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary.— The reason which Huxley especially emphasized as an argument for studying certain languages can easily be shown to be fallacious, though it continues to be accepted uncritically and repeated as a traditional idea.
Radio as a Tool of Education in Puerto Rico
Authors: Atkinson Carroll
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary.— Puerto Rico Department of Education is meeting a difficult bilingual problem by series of broadcasts both to children in the classroom and to adult groups under an organization known as the Escuela del Aire de Puerto Rico.
Language, Intensive Versus Extensive Reading
Authors: LeCoq J. P.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary.— The educational value of language study is comprehension. This article tends to show that, owing to man's process of learning, the channel that leads to real understanding and brings permanent results, is the intensive method. To be prepared to read extensively, let us prepare intensively.
Half‐Hearted Americanism
Authors: Doyle Henry Grattan
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— National leaders and enlightened educational spokesmen such as Dr. John W. Studebaker, U. S. Commissioner of Education, wholeheartedly advocate wider and better opportunities for Americans to study foreign languages, particularly those essential to Inter‐American understanding; but some educationists still maintain the narrow‐minded and short‐sighted attitude characteristic of the 1920's. An example of the “Foreign languages are all right, but …” technique. A suggested program for an approach to the problems in Inter‐Americanism created by language barriers.)
Objective Achievement Testing in French: Recognition Versus Recall Tests
Authors: Smith Francis Prescott , Campbell Helen S.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— An investigation of the correlation of comparable recall and recognition tests in French grammar. Selection and construction of tests, administration, scoring, tabulation, and correlation of results. Concluding that both types test approximately the same knowledge, regardless of “passive” or “active” form.)
Our Pedagogical Dilemma and a Way Out
Authors: Engel E. F.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— A review of the historical development of modern language teaching in this country with an analysis of the confusion in its aims and objectives. Explanation of a solution of the problem.
Cultural Content of German Grammar Texts
Authors: Oliver John E.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— An evaluation of the cultural content of some commonly used German grammars of high school level; the reliability of the method now used in measuring cultural items.)
More Benedictine in the French Class
Authors: Arnold Frank R.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Now is the time to teach France as well as French in the French class.)
Teaching the Gender of Nouns
Authors: Morgan E. A.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— A plan is presented for more efficient teaching and testing of the grammatical gender of nouns, which may be used on either the secondary school level or in college classes.
An Experiment Designed to Measure the Comparative Achievement in Vocabulary and Reading Ability of Second Year Classes in French and Spanish
Authors: Moore Anne Z.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Evidence is presented to show that students of French using an extensive reading approach made greater progress in the acquisition of reading skill and vocabulary content than students of Spanish using an intensive reading approach.
The Importance of Adverbs and Connectives in Teaching Reading
Authors: Keating L. Clark
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— The indispensable connectives that make connected discourse possible are the most difficult words in the foreign vocabulary. They seldom show any cognate relationship to English equivalents, and are seldom thought of aside from the requirements of sentence structure. Something more than haphazard presentation of these words is recommended.
Practical Pan Americanism
Authors: Tyre Carl A.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Distinctive features of Pan American student exchange scholarships, as initiated recently at New Mexico A. and M. College, and the author's experiences while interviewing candidates in Colombia and Ecuador.)
Literary Facts and the Elementary Language Student
Authors: Herman Abraham
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— The literary facts contained in introductions affixed to editions of short stories, novels or plays intended for elementary classes have no real value for students who necessarily lack the background to understand them. The argument against the inclusion of such literary facts is all the more cogent in that the student is chiefly preoccupied with the task of making out the meaning of the text itself.
A New Vocabulary Test
Authors: Dummer E. Heyse
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Modern testing techniques make possible interesting tests. A new method of testing evolved by the author embodies the element of interest and measures both vocabulary and story retention. For the teacher the test is time‐ and energy‐saving, easy to construct, administer and correct.
The Problem of the Dictionary
Authors: Kurz Harry
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Report of an investigation among publishers of foreign language texts about the possible suppression of end‐vocabularies and the substitution of a generally accepted dictionary; the sponsorship of such dictionaries and the listing of those now available on the market; fundamental pedagogical questions involved.
Clasms of an Iconoclast
Authors: Simpson Lurline V.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Foreign language teachers should re‐examine certain current assumptions whose uncritical acceptance impedes complete effectiveness.
An Annotated Bibliography of Italian One‐Act Plays Selected for Presentation by High School and College Students
Authors: Pane Remigio U.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— A detailed description of 72 Italian one‐act plays, giving the number of characters, author, title, place and date of publication, time required for presentation, properties required, and location of accessible copies of each play.
Do We Teach Reading?
Authors: Koch Ernst
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— With the adoption of the reading aim, foreign language teachers automatically became teachers of reading. Therefore it is necessary for them, if they really wish to realize the reading aim, to acquaint themselves with some of the problems and techniques of the teacher of reading.
A Language Versus the Axis
Authors: Pruter Hugo R.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— The success or failure of the United Nations in the present conflict will determine the fate of Esperanto, a 55‐year‐old international language. Therefore, ten million Esperantists have a personal stake in a United Nations victory.
Foreign Language Broadcasting of “Radio Boston”1
Authors: Clements Robert J.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— The story of WRUL‐WRUW, the polyglot short‐wave station of Boston, which has long been winning the peoples of the world to the cause of democracy and internationalism. Now broadcasting on a twenty‐four hour schedule, WRUL‐WRUW is assisting the government win the war of the air waves.
Language Examinations for Ph.D. Candidates
Authors: Rose Ernst
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— On the basis of an extended experience with language examinations for Ph.D. candidates, the article discusses 1) the best time in the candidate's career, when they should be taken; 2) the requirements to be met; 3) the most advisable preparation for these requirements; 4) the form in which the examinations should be given.
Some Observations on the Language Situation*
Authors: Rivers W. N.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Some causes of the depression in foreign language interest: (1) Advent and baneful influence of alchemists and astrologers in education; (2) commercial‐mindedness of some Americans; (3) presumption and indifference of language teachers; (4) Mid‐Victorian personalities. America will become more foreign language conscious because the Axis nations have demonstrated the power and advantages derived from knowing foreign languages, and because some American organizations, institutions, individuals, and periodicals have undertaken a vigorous foreign language crusade.
Foreign Languages and Aviation
Authors: Huebener Theodore
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Germany considers a knowledge of foreign languages of prime importance in connection with aviation.
Open Letter to a Professor of Speech
Authors: Withers A. M.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— An appeal to all professors of Speech for definite union with professors of English and the foreign languages in a whole‐hearted maintenance of the common front, with acknowledgment of dependence on the great arsenal of language, Latin.
About the Collapse of the Third French Republic
Authors: Neumann Fritz
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— The collapse of France should teach Americans a lesson; the future will see the birth of a new France with which Americans can cooperate.
Where the Blame Belongs
Authors: Lindquist Lilly
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Further remarks suggested by Major Rogers' article printed in the Modern Language Journal of May, 1943.
Seseo vs. Θ in the Classroom
Authors: Hefler Alden R. , Thompson Frank R.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— It seems logical that the American student of Spanish should now be taught the seseo, since his oral and aural contact with the language will probably be with the Spanish‐American pronunciation, and since even in the study of the literature of Spain the seseo will not be a serious hindrance.
Foreign Language Week in the Washington (D.C.) Public Schools
Authors: White Emilie Margaret
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Language teachers of the Public Schools of the District of Columbia unite in an effort to reveal values of foreign language study for school and community by organizing the first “foreign language week.”
Indictment or Challenge to Constructive Advance?
Authors: Berrien William
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Deficiencies in language teaching brought to light by present needs do not imply that programs of language instruction are unimportant or that they cannot be improved. The autocritical and objective study of needs for reorientation of content and approach in language courses provides a challenge to teachers at the present time.
The Place of Foreign Language Study in the Post‐ War Reconstruction of Education
Authors: Tharp James B.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Pre‐war experiments in curriculum reconstruction in secondary schools that have fallen short of meeting needs of American Youth. Pressures and conflicts in wartime programs. A dynamic, functioning foreign language program must produce operating skills and appreciations in a postwar democratic system of education.
“Let's Get on Speaking Terms with Our Neighbors”
Authors: Downs John A.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Respect for traditional methods of language instruction, misinterpretation of democratic education, and “Frontier Psychology” have led us into the compromise of the “Reading Knowledge” objective. If teachers of foreign languages wish to make their contribution to international amity they must emphasize first of all the spoken language. We must be on speaking terms with our neighbors.
Japanese Invited Americans to Study Their Language Years Before the War
Authors: Atkinson Carroll
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Some twelve years ago an American‐born Japanese made a suggestion which, had it been followed, would have proved very helpful to us in our war with Japan.
Teaching Modern Languages in War Time1
Authors: Mapes E. K.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— The best contribution to the war effort civilian modern language teachers can make is to teach future draftees and war workers the rudiments of the most important languages, stressing particularly oral and aural drill. A specialized military vocabulary should be taught after the trainee enters the service.
Escape from the Text
Authors: Peacock Vera L.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Independent projects will help to free teacher and students from the text and will tend to emphasize learning a language rather than memorizing a book.
Two Hundred Latin American Books in English Translation: A Bibliography
Authors: Pane Remigio U.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— A list of Latin American works available in English translation prepared to serve as a guide to the re‐education of the non‐Spanish‐speaking North American. This is a revision of my “A Selected Bibliography of Latin American Literature in English Translation” The Modern Language Journal, XXVI, 116–122, February, 1942.
More on “Ser” and “Estar”
Authors: Bolinger Dwight L.
Published: October 2011

W. E. Bull's concept of norm‐change to distinguish ser and estar is valid. It may be approached through the subjectively conceived nature of the subject as well as through the nature of the attribute.
What Shall We Teach Our Youth After the War?
Authors: Vittorini D.
Published: October 2011

The men who will return to colleges and universities after passing through the ordeal of a ghastly war will expect a more realistic approach in our presentation of literary history. Literary art is much more than experimenting with technique, and recasting in baroque forms the great works of the classics. Art is closely related to life, when it achieves genuine greatness. We need discrimination in dealing with Italian literature of yesterday and today.
Language Study and the Armed Forces
Authors: Cross Ephraim
Published: October 2011

In connection with the language program of the armed services some very serious errors and false notions about language teachers and language study have been generalized. A native speaker is not necessarily the best teacher. The program does not eliminate “grammar.” The program is not revolutionary. It has disadvantages. It will not fit into the normal peace‐time college schedule.
“Languages for Use” and the Liberal Arts
Authors: Jordan Emil L.
Published: October 2011

The question is investigated in which ways the liberal arts tradition may be helpful and supplementary to the “language for use” approach in the teaching of modern foreign languages on the college level.
A Testing Plan for First‐Year German Classes
Authors: Kurath William
Published: October 2011

The average teacher of Elementary German, by applying the techniques used in the construction of standardized tests to the making of short quizzes, can save himself a good deal of time.
Entertaining Features in the Teaching of Modern Languages
Authors: Nabholz Johannes
Published: October 2011

A few practical methods of making the classroom procedure more stimulating and enjoyable are presented in this article.)
Pioneer Italian Teachers of Italian in the United States
Authors: Marraro Howard R.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Against the background of the educational conditions prevalent in American colleges during the first three quarters of the nineteenth century, the author examines the contributions made to the teaching of Italian in the United States by Italian pioneers in this field, principally: Foresti, Bachi, Monti, Botta, Maroncelli, Gallenga, Speranza and others. The principal textbooks used in the teaching of Italian are also briefly analyzed.
“Foreign Area Studies” in the German College Curriculum
Authors: Jordan Emil L.
Published: October 2011

The feasibility of adapting the foreign area studies of the Army Specialized Training Program to the regular college program in languages is investigated.
Some Recent Trends in Modern‐Language Teaching in the United States
Authors: Schaffer Aaron
Published: October 2011

A statement of the history and aims of the teaching of the modern foreign languages and of some recent developments in the United States. Originally prepared for presentation to the Educational Policy Committee of The University of Texas.)
Building Comprehension in Silent Reading
Authors: Blayne Thornton C.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Procedures used in the Menlo School and Junior College for speeding up comprehension in silent reading in the foreign languages, illustrated in terms of first semester materials for a beginning high‐school class in Spanish.
Melting‐Pot Myth
Authors: Foley Louis
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— Thoughtful consideration of the “varied sources” of English may lead to some interesting conclusions, but not exactly to the ideas commonly taken for granted.
Some Desiderata for Elementary Language Texts
Authors: Hall Robert A.
Published: October 2011

Author's summary.— An enumeration of certain features which appear desirable for elementary language texts, in the light of recent improvements in approach and method.
The Psychology of the Subjunctive in French and Spanish
Authors: Rice Winthrop H.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— The use of the subjunctive is based on the psychological implications of emotion and lack of certainty. All uses listed in the grammars fall into one or the other of these categories; no others are necessary.
Teaching the Pronunciation of “C” and “G” and the Spanish Diphthongs
Authors: Arnaud Leonard E.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— A workable method for presenting these subjects simply.
Devices (or Vices!)
Authors: Babcock Courtlandt
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Whereas we have been spending two‐thirds of our time in our French courses on grammar study and one‐third on conversation and comprehension, we are now reversing the process and with good results.
The American Accent in French
Authors: Myron Herbert B.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— This is a brief account of the ways of eradicating the American accent in French. Realizing that the average student in a conversation course has little time or talent for either phonetics or phonemics, an attempt is made here to “trouble shoot” the worst of his bad accent.
On Learning a Foreign Language*
Authors: Pargment M. S.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— A critical examination of the problems now facing American teachers and administrators as a result of the Army's Specialized Training Program, such as: methods of instruction, intensive courses, the “scientific‐conversational” approach, the use of informants, etc.
Le Français Tel Qu'on L'Enseigne
Authors: Currier Francis M.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— The opinions in an article (M.L.J., March 1945) on American teachers of French and the textbooks used are erroneous. A rather extensive survey yields facts and figures presenting a very different picture. The books we use do not teach merely an outmoded form of French.
A Proposed Program in Modern Foreign Languages
Authors: Hardaway R. Travis
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Foreign language instructors should press now for a larger number of credits, not merely class hours. A program proposed for the implementation of the various aims of a liberal arts sequence, including a basic skill in speaking.
Words, not Grammar
Authors: Greiner Otto A.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Much of the grammar teaching in foreign languages is useless. By omitting it, we can put time and energy onto learning words—perhaps all the twenty‐four hundred words that every German uses.
Arriving at the Goal in Scientific German
Authors: Steckelberg Mathilde
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Analysis of difficulties encountered in the second year by a student in reading unedited scientific German material. A suggested induction by degrees into the reading of such material. Checking work done, and evaluating student's progress.)
The Phonemic Approach: Its Uses and Value
Authors: Hall Robert A.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— Phonetics and its application to language teaching have enabled us to aim at accurate hearing and imitation; a further development of phonetics, phonemics, “essentializes” and “functionalizes” our understanding of sound‐patterns and furnishes the basis for a revised approach to grammatical structure.)

Scene: A second‐year French class.

Teacher: Lisez, s'il vous plait, M. Jones.

Johnny Jones (slowly and painfully): Bar mer deet ler vyerz matoo ong mongtraynong voo ong vayrayz byang dohtrayz.

Teacher (inwardly): Mon Dieu! (outwardly) Traduisez, s'il vous plait.

Jones: Sir? Oh! Bah, said to me the old … er …

Teacher: Tom‐cat.

Jones: In entraining me …

Teacher: Leading me away …

Jones: You will see the others well.
A Case for Scientific German
Authors: Radimersky George William
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— The author looks upon Scientific German in the light of recent, present and future international conditions. He sees both the disciplinarian and functional values of Scientific German greatly enhanced and stresses its extension into the junior and senior years of the college curriculum.)
The Learning of Languages
Authors: Skinner Daniel T.
Published: October 2011

Author's Summary— The author seeks to show how foreign languages, which seemed at first a grammar exercise, later through contact and travel became a living medium of expression.)
MLJ Reviews
Authors: BIRCKBICHLER DIANE W.
Published: October 2011

ANDERSON, ANNE & TONY LYNCH. Listening.

Reading in the Composition Classroom: Second Language Perspectives. Ed. Joan G. Carson & Ilona Leki.

New Ways in Teacher Education. Ed. Donald Freeman, with Steve Cornwell.

MLA Directory of Periodicals: A Guide to Journals and Series in Languages and Literatures Periodicals Published in the Americas.

MCKAY, SANDRA. Teaching English Overseas: An Introduction.

NATTINGER, JAMES R. & JEANETTE S. DECARRICO. Lexical Phrases and Language Teaching

PARKIN, ALAN J. Memory: Phenomena, Experiment and Theory.

STERN, H. H. Issues and Options in Language Teaching. Ed. Patrick Allen & Birgit Harley.

Dimension: Language ‘92–’93: Foreign Languages: Internationalizing the Future. Ed. Robert M. Terry.

WRIGHT, TONY. Roles of Teachers and Learners. Ed. C. N. Candlin & H. G. Widdowson.

HYSA, RAMAZAN. Albanian‐English Dictionary.

European Insights: Postwar Politics, Society, Culture. Ed. Audrey Brassloff & Wolfgang Brassloff.

BYRAM, MICHAEL, VERONICA ESARTESARRIES & SUSAN TAYLOR. Cultural Studies and Language Learning: A Research Report.

GASTON, JAN. Cultural Awareness Teaching Techniques.

CLARK, RAYMOND C., PATRICK R. MORAN & ARTHUR A. BURROWS. The ESL Miscellany.

MCGILL, ELLEN & NEILD OLDHAM. Computers for Businesspeople.

REVELL, ROD & SIMON SWEENEY. In Print: Reading Business English.

WINGATE, JIM. Getting Beginners to Talk.

BATCHELOR, R. E. & M. H. OFFORD. Using French: A Guide to Contemporary Usage

BATCHELOR, R. E. & M. H. OFFORD. Using French Synonyms.

COTENTIN‐REY, GHISLAINE. Le résumé.

GRANDET, ELIANE, MARIE‐LOUISE PARIZET & RICHARD LESCURE. Destination D.E.L.F. Préparation aux épreuves écrites des Unités A1 et A2.

MUYSKENS, JUDITH, LINDA HARLOW, & MICHELE VIALET. Bravo! Communication et Grammaire.

ROUXEVILLE, ANNIE. Parlons affaires.

DONDOUX‐LIBERGE, S., ET AL. Wirtschaft im Ohr: Teil 1 und 2.

LYS, FRANZISKA AND WILLIAM ANTHONY. Drehort: Neubrandenburg.

SEVIN, DIETER, & INGRID SEVIN & KATRIN T. BEAN. Wie geht's?

WELLS, LARRY D. Handbuch zur deutschen Grammatik.

TSAKIRIDES, EVRIS. Spoken Greek.

COFFIN, EDNA AMIR. Encounters in Modern Hebrew Level II.

ALLEN, CARON & NATSUMI WATANABE. A Homestay in Japan.

SOSÁRE, M. & I. BIRZVALKA. Latvian‐English English‐Latvian Dictionary.

Romance Languages and Modern Linguistic Theory: Papers from the 20th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL XX), Ottawa, 10–14 April 1990. Ed. Paul Hirschbühler & Konrad Koerner.

BENSON, MORTON & EVELYN BENSON. Russian‐English Dictionary of Verbal Collocations.

SIGUAN, MIQUEL. Multilingual Spain.

A New Decade of Language Testing Research: Selected papers from the 1990 Language Testing Research Colloquium. Ed. Dan Douglas & Carol Chapelle.

LEFEVERE, ANDRÉ. Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of Literary Fame.

NEWMARK, PETER. Paragraphs on Translation.

Turkish Linguistics Today. Ed. Hendrik Boeschoten & Ludo Verhoeven.
Using Video as an Advance Organizer to a Written Passage in the FLES Classroom
Authors: HANLEY JULIA E. B. , HERRON CAROL A. , COLE STEVEN P.
Published: October 2011

We compared the effects of two visual advance organizers on comprehension and retention of a written passage in a FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary School) Program: (a) Video and (b) Pictures + Teacher Narrative. Sixty‐two English‐speaking students enrolled in fifth grade in a parochial elementary school served as subjects. Investigators randomly assigned students to one of two conditions. Students in both conditions read 12 identical passages in French. The two groups differed only in their introduction to the passages. For students in the video group, a short video clip presented the narration of the advance organizer while for the comparative group, the teacher presented the identical narration by reading it aloud and showing four pictures related in context. Findings indicated that Video was a more effective advance organizer than Pictures + Teacher Narrative. The investigators interpreted these results as evidence of video's potential to enhance comprehension and enrich instruction.
Cognition Plus: Correlates Of Language Learning Success
Authors: EHRMAN MADELINE E. , OXFORD REBECCA L.
Published: October 2011

This article examines the relationships of a variety of individual difference variables to end‐of‐training proficiency ratings in speaking and reading for a large sample of adults in intensive training in a wide range of languages at the U.S. Department of State. Variables included tested cognitive aptitude, learning strategies, learning styles, personality, motivation, and anxiety. Although tested cognitive aptitude showed the strongest correlations with proficiency test results in both skills, the other variables also correlated in ways that show how rich and complex the individual learner's role in language is. Results may contribute to increasingly sophisticated student counseling and to efforts to enhance student autonomy by tailoring treatments to student characteristics. They also increase knowledge of attributes that may affect language training to the upper proficiency levels.
At the Crossroads of Gender and Culture: Where Feminism and Sexism Intersect
Authors: DURHAM CAROLYN A.
Published: October 2011

The controversy over the alleged sexism of French in Action (Capretz, 1987, 1994) is analyzed within the context of key differences between French and American feminist thought. American students and professors tend to impose their own culturally informed beliefs about gender stereotypes and literary realism on the foreign language textbook. Read within a French cultural context and from a perspective that emphasizes the important role played by the video component of French in Action, this text can be more accurately perceived as a postmodernist, feminist critique of Hollywood's heterosexual romance narrative and of conventional discourses of masculinity. The debate over French in Action provides an opportunity to include foreign language study and pedagogies in current discussions of curricular transformation in the academy.
Using Diachronic Linguistics in the Language Classroom
Authors: ARTEAGA DEBORAH L. , HERSCHENSOHN JULIA
Published: October 2011

This article argues that knowledge of the historical background of a language can be profitably integrated into its teaching at the elementary and intermediate levels. The use of diachronic linguistics is illustrated in the teaching of first‐year college French. In the first section, the rationale for using diachronic linguistics in the language classroom is presented. The second and third parts of the paper are devoted to specific applications of historical linguistics drawn from French; these encompass orthography, vocabulary, morphology, and syntax.
Assessing Oral Proficiency: A Comparison of Holistic and Objective Measures
Authors: HALLECK GENE B.
Published: October 2011

This study examines the relationship between holistic judgments of oral proficiency and objective measures of syntactic maturity in the Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPIs) of 107 students of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Tianjin, China. The analysis compares a holistic rating of proficiency level (Intermediate, Advanced, and Superior) with objective measures (Mean T‐Unit Length, Mean Error‐Free T‐Unit Length, and Percent of Error‐Free T‐Units) for three separate interview tasks (Describing/Narrating, Role Playing, and Asking Questions). Results of the repeated measures Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVAs) indicate significant main effects for proficiency level and interview task.
Restructuring Classroom Interaction with Networked Computers: Effects on Quantity and Characteristics of Language Production
Authors: KERN RICHARD G.
Published: October 2011

This study describes the use of Daedalus InterChange, a local area computer network application, to facilitate communicative language use through synchronous, written classroom interaction. The study compares the quantity and characteristics of the discourse produced by two groups of second‐semester French students during an InterChange session and during an oral class discussion on the same topic. Students had over twice as many turns, produced two to four times more sentences, and used a much greater variety of discourse functions when working in InterChange than they did in their oral discussion. Furthermore, the distribution and direction of turns were radically different in the two conditions, with much more direct student‐to‐student exchange in the InterChange condition. Students' and instructors' responses to using InterChange were assessed: both groups responded favorably, although students more enthusiastically so than the instructors. Features of InterChange that may be unsettling for teachers include: decentering of teacher authority, lesser attention to grammatical accuracy, and less clear coherence and continuity of discussions.
Expanding the Motivation Construct in Language Learning
Authors: TREMBLAY PAUL F. , GARDNER ROBERT C.
Published: October 2011

Recent reviews by Crookes & Schmidt (1991), Dörnyei (1994), and Oxford and Shearin (1994) have suggested that research concerned with motivation in second language acquisition would benefit from a consideration of motivational constructs from other research areas. The present study addresses this issue by investigating the relation of a number of new measures of motivation such as persistence, attention, goal specificity, and causal attributions to each other, to existing measures of attitudes and motivation, and to indices of achievement in French courses. A sample of 75 students in a francophone secondary school completed various motivational and attitudinal measures, and subsequently wrote a French essay. Their final grades in the French course were later obtained from the school records. Support was found for a LISREL structural equation model linking different aspects of motivation with language attitudes, French language dominance, and French achievement. It was concluded that the new motivational measures add to our understanding of motivation in language learning.
The Effects of Emblematic Gestures on the Development and Access of Mental Representations of French Expressions
Authors: ALLEN LINDA QUINN
Published: October 2011

The study investigated the effect of emblematic gestures on the development and access of mental representations of French expressions. The major hypothesis of the study was that learning emblematic gestures with simultaneously presented French expressions would cause an increased depth of processing as measured by greater retention. The second hypothesis was that recall would persist over time. A pretest posttest repeated measures design was used. Three groups consisting of 112 first‐semester university French students participated in the study. The experimental group learned the gestures and used them to recall the expressions in the posttest. The no‐treatment group did not see the gestures at any time. The comparison group did not learn the gestures, but did see them in the posttest. Results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) performed on the posttest scores revealed that learning emblematic gestures simultaneously with French expressions does lead to greater recall. Secondly, although all groups experienced a decay in recall, the groups that saw the emblematic gestures forgot significantly fewer sentences than the group that did not see the gestures.
Hyperreality and the Study of Latin: Living in a Fairy Tale World
Authors: ABBOTT MARTHA G. , DAVIS SALLY
Published: October 2011

THE AUTHORS OF “THE EMPEROR'S NEW Clothes: Hyperreality and the Study of Latin” (Ball & Ellsworth, 1996) exhibit a woeful misunderstanding of the rationale behind current methodologies used in teaching Latin in the secondary schools. It is evident that they have little knowledge or experience with today's curriculum, today's classroom, and today's student. The decidedly antiquated advocacy of Latin as a language to be pursued by only the brightest students, instead of broadening its appeal to a wider audience, has long been eschewed by public secondary school teachers. They would argue vehemently, as we will here, that it is the authors themselves who are out of touch with reality.
Identification of Stressors and Coping Strategies of ESL/Bilingual, Special Education, and Regular Education Teachers
Authors: MARKHAM PAUL , GREEN SAMUEL B. , ROSS MARGARET E.
Published: October 2011

The present study investigated the type of stressors that ESL/bilingual teachers encounter and the kind of strategies that they use to cope with them. Twenty‐four matched triads of ESL/bilingual, regular education, and special education teachers (N = 72) from a Midwestern state completed a questionnaire about stress and coping. Counter to our hypotheses, the ESL/bilingual teachers and regular education teachers reported similar frequencies and stress levels in preparing students for problems outside their class. However, ESL/bilingual teachers perceived preparation of students for problems outside their class to be more stressful than preparation for problems within their class, whereas regular education teachers found the two types of problems equally stressful. As hypothesized, ESL/bilingual teachers were more likely than regular education teachers to cope with stressors by sharing them with others. Also, special education and ESL/bilingual teachers tended to share similar views toward classroom stressors and coping, whereas regular education teachers tended to have somewhat different views.
Narrative Strategies: A Case Study of Developing Storytelling Skills by a Learner of Spanish
Authors: LISKIN‐GASPARRO JUDITH E.
Published: October 2011

What does it mean to tell a “good story”? What strategies does the storyteller use to set the scene, move the action forward, and make sure the story has a point? For a second language speaker, how do these narrative strategies develop? This essay explores these questions by analyzing the narrative, descriptive, and evaluative structures of two stories about the same event told by the same speaker. The stories are drawn from oral proficiency interviews (OPIs) with the speaker, the first time when she was at the Intermediate High level and the second, when she was at the Advanced level. The discourse analysis revealed that the second story surpasses the first in length, amount of narrative detail, systematic use of descriptive elements, and number and variety of evaluative devices. Rather than departing from the narrative structure of the first story, the second one builds upon the earlier version, using syntactic and lexical means to vary the pace of the action and draw the listener into the story.
Incidental Vocabulary Learning by Advanced Foreign Language Students: The Influence of Marginal Glosses, Dictionary Use, and Reoccurrence of Unknown Words
Authors: HULSTIJN JAN H. , HOLLANDER MEREL , GREIDANUS TINE
Published: October 2011

Dutch advanced students of French read a French short story in one of three text reading conditions: Marginal Glosses (provision of L1 translations of unknown words), Dictionary (opportunity to use a bilingual dictionary), or Control. After reading, students were tested for their recall of 16 words that had appeared either once or three times in the text. Support was found for the hypothesis that frequency of occurrence will foster incidental vocabulary learning more when advanced second language (L2) readers are given the meanings of unknown words through marginal glosses or when they look up meanings in a dictionary than when no external information concerning unknown words' meanings is available. In the former case, reappearance of a word will reinforce the form‐meaning connection in the reader's mental lexicon. In the latter case, readers will often ignore unknown words or incorrectly infer their meanings, which will limit the frequency effect. This article ends with recommendations for teachers and researchers.
An Empirical Study on the Relationship between Chinese Character Recognition and Production
Authors: KE CHUANREN
Published: October 2011

This study investigated the relationship between Chinese character recognition and production by second language (L2) learners. A panel study, which employed an instrument consisting of a character recognition task and a production task, was adopted. Subjects were 47 first‐year Chinese language students in the U.S. There were three major findings in this study: (a) Although the correlations between character recognition and production for both Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2) were moderate, it appeared that there was a decrease of correlation for T2; (b) Students performed better in the recognition tasks than in the production tasks; (c) Students performed better with low density characters than high density characters in the production tasks. Direction for future research to complement the findings of the current study is also suggested.
Reading Proficiency Assessment and the ILR/ACTFL Text Typology: A Reevaluation
Authors: EDWARDS ALISON L.
Published: October 2011

Two previous investigations into the validity of the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR)/American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) text typology concluded that the model did not accurately predict test performance for foreign language (FL) readers. However, these studies suffered from serious flaws in design and implementation that may have led to erroneous conclusions. The present study considered the validity of the pragmatic approach to text difficulty that was put forward by Child in 1987—the text typology underlying the ILR/ACTFL proficiency guidelines. The following question guided this research: Does the Child discourse‐type hierarchy predict text difficulty for L2 readers? Test data were collected from 62 U.S. Government employees having some previously demonstrated French proficiency. Nine authentic French texts and a combination of testing methods were employed. The results suggested that the Child text hierarchy may indeed provide a sound basis for the development of FL reading tests when it is applied by trained raters and when such tests include an adequate sample of passages at each level to be tested.
MLJ Reviews
Authors: BIRCKBICHLER DIANE W.
Published: October 2011

Book reviewed in this article:

BRINDLEY, GEOFF. (Ed.). Language Assessment in Action.

BROWN, JAMES D. The Elements of Language Curriculum: A Systematic Approach to Program Development.

CARTER, RONALD. Introducing Applied Linguistics: An A‐Z Guide.

COULSON, MARK, & JUDITH GREENE. Language Understanding: Current Issues.

FREEMAN, DAVID E. & YVONNE S. FREEMAN. Between Worlds: Access to Second Language Acquisition.

SCHOLFIELD, PHIL. Quantifying Language: A Researcher's and Teacher's Guide to Gathering Language Data and Reducing it to Figures.

SELDIN, PETER. The Teaching Portfolio.

SELDIN, PETER, & ASSOCIATES. Successful Use of Teaching Portfolios.

SKUTNABB‐KANGAS, TOVE. (Ed.). Multiliongualism for All.

TANNACITO, DAN J. A Guide to Writing English as a Second or Foreign Language: An Annotated Bibliography of Research and Pedagogy.

TATALOVICH, RAYMOND. Nativism Reborn? The Official English Movement and the American States.

TICKOO, MAKHAN L. (Ed.). Reading and Writing: Theory into Practice. (Anthology Series 35).

TOMATIS, ALFRED A. The Conscious Ear. (Stephen Lushington & Billie Thompson, Trans.).

WHITE, RONALD V. Ed. New Ways in Teaching Writing.

ABU‐TALEB, SAMY. Conversational Arabic In 7 Days.

STORTI, CRAIG. Cross‐Cultural Dialogues: 74 Brief Encounters with Cultural Difference.

RICHMOND, YALE. From Da to Yes: Understanding the Eastern Europeans.

ROUXEVILLE, ANNIE. Passeport Pour la France.

FUNK, HERMANN, MICHAEL KOENIG, THEO SCHERLING, & GERD NEUNER. Sowieso: A German Course for Young People.

MCCARTHY, JOHN A., & KATRIN SCHNEIDER. (Eds.). The Future of Germanistik in the USA: Changing Our Prospects.

SYRACUSE LANGUAGE SYSTEMS. TriplePlay‐Plus! German.

SHAHAR, LUCY, & DAVID KURZ. Border Crossings: American Interactions With Israelis.

FEINLER‐TORRIANI, LUCIANA, & GUNTER H. KLEMM. Mastering Italian Vocabulary: A Thematic Approach.

ITALIANO, FRANCESCA, & IRENE MARCHEGIANI JONES. Crescendo!: A Thematic Approach to Intermediate Italian Language and Culture.

GUDYKUNST, WILLIAM, B., & TSUKASA NISHIDA. Bridging Japanese/North American Differences.

NITTI, JOHN, & MICHAEL J. FERREIRA. 501 Portuguese Verbs Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses in a New Easy‐to‐Learn Format Alphabetically Arranged.

RUBIN, HERBERT J., & IRENE S. RUBIN. Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data.

STAKE, ROBERT E. The Art of Case Study Research.

BOTOMAN, RODICA. Discover Romanian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture.

KARRAS, THOMAS. A Concise English‐Russian Phrase Book.

SHLYAKHOV, VLADIMIR, & EVE ADLER. Dictionary of Russian Slang and Colloquial Expressions.

UNGIER, LEON. (Compiler.) Russian‐English On‐Line Dictionary, SuperDic 3.01.

DE BRUYNE, JACQUES. A Comprehensive Spanish Grammar.
Articulating the Relationship Between Language, Literature, and Culture: Toward a New Agenda for Foreign Language Teaching and Research
Authors: SHANAHAN DANIEL
Published: October 2011

Today, university teachers of foreign language (FL) in the U.S. face a pedagogical environment in which two camps have developed, one basing its emphasis on communicative competence, the other on the importance of exposure to culture and, especially, literature. The reliance of the former on data from empirical studies often conflicts with the feelings of the latter that nonquantitative, intuitional aspects of language learning are essential to language acquisition. However, much research into the role of culture and literature in language learning remains to be done so that these feelings may be articulated and applied systematically to the development of materials, syllabi, and curricula. Areas in which such articulation might take place include: (a) the extent to which language itself is laden with affect that may be catalyzed as an inducement to learning; (b) the extent to which the affective element is embedded in the nature of symbolic expression—and thus metaphor, myth, and literature; (c) the specific ways in which language and literature may encode culture and have an affective impact on learners in the classroom. Research already exists that lends itself to a close examination of these areas. By taking advantage of that research, FL teaching in the U.S. could establish the importance of literature and culture in the language classroom in ways that would solidify its role in an environment fraught with transformation and change.
Discourse Processing of First and Second Language Biology Texts: Effects of Language Proficiency and Domain‐Specific Knowledge
Authors: CHEN QIN , DONIN JANET
Published: October 2011

This article investigates the effects of graduate science students' domain‐specific knowledge and language proficiency on local lexical and syntactic processing and on semantic and higher conceptual processing of biology texts written in the students' first and second language. In our research, language proficiency consistently affected lower‐level processing. However, it appeared to have few concomitant effects on processing of semantic information. Domain‐specific knowledge, on the other hand, affected every aspect of comprehension of semantic information that was assessed in the study. However, it had fewer effects on local lexical and syntactic processing. These results were consistent with theories of discourse comprehension that view processing of local lexical and syntactic information and processing of semantic and higher conceptual information as being both multilevel and modular. The results of the study also suggest that caution should be exercised when applying conclusions drawn from studies of languages from the Indo‐European family to languages of a greater linguistic distance, such as Chinese.
Interaction and Second Language Learning: Two Adolescent French Immersion Students Working Together
Authors: SWAIN MERRILL , LAPKIN SHARON
Published: October 2011

This article provides support for a theoretical orientation toward viewing dialogue as both a means of communication and a cognitive tool. Data to support this position come from an analysis of the language‐related episodes isolated in the dialogue of two grade 8 French immersion students as they carry out a jigsaw task. During the task, the students work out a story line and write it out. As they do so, they encounter linguistic problems. To solve them, the students use their first language (L1) and second language (L2) in order to communicate to each other and as tools to aid their L2 learning. The language‐related episodes discussed provide evidence of language use as both an enactment of mental processes and as an occasion for L2 learning. Variation in how other pairs of students in the class perform the task supports existing evidence that the same task does not provide similar occasions for L2 learning to all student dyads.