bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Time Factor in Language Learning
Authors: DeFrancis John
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  In measuring language‐teaching activities, especially when comparing programs, the question frequently arises as to how long it takes to attain a specified goal. The various units of measurement which have been used are all very imprecise and misleading because they generally overlook such time‐related aspects as student aptitude, relation between class hours and outside study, and number of students in class.

All these are multiple aspects of the complex time factor, and all need to be taken into consideration when determining the kind of language program to adopt. The choice lies between the extremes of maximizing all aspects of the time factor, thereby adopting an élitist approach to language study, and selectively choosing among the various aspects of the time factor so as to attract more students with a view to exposing them to a foreign language as a cultural experience. At the pre‐college level the emphasis should be on the latter. At the college level the ideal program seeks both objectives by teaching language as a tool for a few specialists and as a cultural experience for a larger number of students.
Training Language Teachers—A Systems Approach*
Authors: McArdle Richard J.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Many instructional problems which face us today in the training of foreign language teachers can be solved with a systems approach. Systems offers program designers a dosed loop feedback mechanism within which to develop a meaningful program.

Eight objectives selected for a methods course offered at the University of Nebraska are described and each is stated specifically in behavioral terms. Since space does not permit reporting each of the objectives in the detail demanded by a systems approach, one objective is presented. The account of this objective takes the reader step by step through each detail of the systems approach used at Nebraska. It includes the following basic steps:

A general and specific statement of the problem.

An analysis of the problem

An assessment of the learner's entering behavior

The development of an instructional design (i.e., learning experiences, components, scheduling, and evaluation of the program)

A means of feedback and change within the design
Are We Really Measuring Proficiency with Our Foreign Language Tests?*
Authors: Brière Eugène J.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Operational definitions of the differences between “achievement” and “proficiency” in foreign language performances are given. The development of different methods of teaching foreign languages and the subsequent tests related to each method are reviewed and discussed, current attempts to measure “proficiency” in foreign languages are seriously questioned as being inadequate. To eliminate some of the most glaring inadequacies in language testing, new, experimental approaches are being conducted by investigators from different disciplines. The new approaches are reviewed, the underlying rationale for each approach is discussed, and a plea is made for increased interdisciplinary experimentation in all areas of language testing.
The Practice Variable: An Experiment
Authors: Jarvis Gilbert A. , Hatfield William N.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  A semester‐long experiment contrasted the effects of two kinds of classroom practice procedures in the teaching of beginning college French (N = 292). Experimental treatments were formulated in terms of the relationship between human conceptual and linguistic systems. Students in the Contextual treatment practiced language which symbolized particularized referents of the concepts involved. Students in the Drill treatment practiced language which symbolized the generic meaning of the concepts. Contextual practice symbolized events in the environment, whereas Drill practice, while meaningful and potentially communicative, was not applied to referents.

Analysis of covariance with the Modern Language Aptitude Test serving as covariate was used to test differences. Results revealed small differences between the treatment groups in the receptive skills. In the productive skills, however, differences were highly significant and consistently favored the Contextual group. Differences were most pronounced in the ability to write sentences describing pictures, to give picture‐cued answers to oral questions, and to describe orally a series of pictures. Contextual students had a somewhat more positive attitude toward their classes. High school French experience and aptitude were also investigated. Results are interpreted as evidence supporting the inclusion of contextual practice in instructional strategy, if objectives involve productive skill development.
A Four‐Year Study of Foreign Language Aptitude at the High School Level
Authors: Cloos Robert I.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Correlations of scores on the Modern Language Aptitude Test and the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery with FL course marks provided evidence that the tests are best suited to predicting the potential initial rate of FL learning. Attrition, grouping, and self‐selection were among factors which reduced predictive power in advanced FL courses by narrowing the range of variability in aptitude and course marks. The testing of three hypotheses revealed that (1) the French students achieved higher aptitude scores and course marks than the Spanish students, (2) achievement of aptitude test scores was not influenced by prior FL study, and (3) the girls were superior to the boys in aptitude and achievement at all levels. The improvement of long‐term prediction depends on refinement of objectives, increased precision in defining and measuring FL proficiency, and a continuing reassessment of conceptual relationships. The improvement of instruction should be supported by broader diagnostic use of aptitude measurement as a basis for course differentiation and remedial training. Where circumstances permit, consideration should be given to grouping by sex, especially at the first level.
Teaching Afro‐French Literature in the American Secondary School: A New Dimension*
Authors: Bostick Herman F.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Today, French teachers are eager to include in the curriculum of the secondary school learning experiences in African literature and culture of French expression. Literary works by francophone African and Caribbean authors are progressively becoming more accessible to the classroom teacher. Written in standard French by authors of no meager literary talent, Afro‐French literature can add a new dimension to the study of French in the secondary school. Integration of Afro‐French literature and culture into the French curriculum demands that the teacher give careful thought to the following: course aims and objectives, level of language mastery, preparation of the teacher, availability of adequate teaching materials, effective teaching techniques and strategies. Unfamiliarity with precolonial Black Africa—its history, institutions, customs, and beliefs—makes an article on the teaching of Afro‐French literature and culture necessary and timely. Inasmuch as most black writers turn to precolonial Africa for their sources and inspiration, the classroom teacher has no alternative but to become knowledgeable about Africa past and present. This article on the teaching of Afro‐French literature in the secondary school is an effort to provide the classroom teacher with important background information, suggested classroom materials, and teaching techniques for enriching the teaching‐learning experience in French.
Methods of Teaching Literature*
Authors: Santoni Georges V.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Although methods of teaching foreign languages have greatly improved as a result of pedagogic and linguistic research, the teaching of literature has remained traditional, emphasizing exposure rather than achievement and directed to students of superior ability. Professional training has been virtually nonexistent. The vast amount of research in contemporary criticism and in linguistics opens a new perspective on methodology. Diminishing the importance of literary history and concentrating instead on the linguistic code of literature could help us to teach literature in a manner both more interesting and more likely to elicit the individual participation of students. Students who are often discouraged because of inadequate linguistic preparation to work with a literary text need preliterary exercises dealing with the lexical, syntactic, semantic, and cultural difficulties of the text to be studied. Such a forward build‐up of the language as a means of communication, prior to the contact with the literary language, should serve as an instrument allowing teacher and class more time for a literary discussion, eliminating the need for verification of understanding. One example of teaching a poem in French illustrates this approach.
The Spanish Short Story and Its Potential for the Secondary and College Classroom*
Authors: Leal Luis
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The modern Spanish short story provides a useful teaching tool for the high school and college teacher of all levels of Spanish. Short stories can be read and analyzed in a limited period of time. They are adaptable to various levels of achievement and individual interest, as their diverse and significant themes and limited vocabulary have wide appeal to the student and offer many opportunities for group work. Since the short story concentrates on a single impression of life, it has an immediate impact upon the reader. This personal involvement provokes the student to feel, to think, and to consider his own reactions and attitudes in light of what he has read, all of which makes for lively class discussion. While many short stories have universal themes, some have important moral implications; others treat of social or national conflicts, exposing the student to the psychology, language, and culture of other people. The short story is also a good medium for teaching literary analysis, to both the mature and adolescent reader. The more advanced college student may wish to study the development of the short story from the early didactic tale to its present form as a work of art.
Eye‐to‐Eye Teaching: An Approach to Reading Courses
Authors: Christiansen Heinz C.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The class discussion of reading material in the second year language course need not be restricted to materials provided in the Inhaltsfragen offered by the average reading anthology. This article suggests several approaches to the development of reading and conversational skills. The methods proposed are: (1) Free paraphrase of the textual material; (2) Free dialogue; (3) Sketches and cartoons. These methods permit the teacher and the student to focus their attention on the development of spontaneous conversational skills and they provide opportunity for vocabulary and grammar exercises which become an integral part of the textual paraphrase.
Evidence for an Expanded Role for Reading in Foreign Language Learning
Authors: Lado Robert
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The widely held assumption that it is harmful to allow students to read from the beginning what they are expected to master orally was tested experimentally with the result that reading appears to facilitate rather than obstruct language acquisition without significant negative effects on pronunciation. Evidence from experiments reported by others gives further support for this conclusion. Tests of language skills (aural perception, pronunciation, control of vocabulary) conducted among students of various languages and ages at the beginning level show significantly superior results among the students exposed to written as well as auditory stimuli as opposed to those exposed to the purely auditory. On the basis of the evidence it is concluded that reading should be given an expanded role in language teaching from the beginning. Specifically, although it is possible to learn to speak without reading, it seems a more effective strategy to learn to read simultaneously with learning to speak. The evidence is against a completely oral prereading period.
Foreign Language Education in Myth and Reality
Authors: Rose Theodore E.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Throughout today's educational process, the key word is “relevance.” Secondary school students find a great disparity between much of what goes on in the classroom and their daily life activities, and they are not reluctant to voice their dissatisfactions. Thus, much of the success of the programs in today's curriculum may be in direct proportion to student relevance. Foreign language programs are no exception. In spite of the fact that foreign language often masquerades as an elective subject, many students still choose it to fulfill college entrance or college prep requirements. Those who do not are often disillusioned when the initial pleasurable experience of the new language and culture gives way to the necessity of abundant hard work for continual success. As audiolingual foreign language enters its teen years, we must reexamine our aims and objectives and grapple with adolescent problems. To do this, we must first examine the present status of foreign language teaching and realize the disparity between some of the prevalent myths and realities, in order to be in a more tenable position for revising our goals to assure relevance of our field, and for defending or justifying our place in the curriculum of our present‐day schools.
Behavioral Objectives, Skinnerian Rats and Trojan Horses1
Authors: Grittner Frank M.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Many people are now concerned about the widespread advocacy of behavioral objectives as a basis for building an efficient, cost‐accountable foreign language curriculum. In reality, this “systems‐analysis” approach to curriculum is neither new nor innovative nor of demonstrated effectiveness in the field of foreign languages. In fact, when applied to humanistic studies, behavioral objectives are potentially destructive. This is because their use is based upon simplistic psychological principles, outmoded pedagogical concepts, and morally questionable attitudes regarding the right of educators to manipulate the minds and emotions of human learners toward the achievement of externally imposed, standardized goals.

In addition to wasting precious teacher in the preparation and use of behavioral objectives tends toward the trivialization of the curriculum and toward an emphasis upon these learning outcomes that can be quantified and measured objectively. Worst of all, their tends to suppress the more important outcome of humanistic education that involve the idiosyncratic cultivation of internal mental states. Such phenomena as feelings, insights, values, and attitudes simply do not fit within the frame‐work of “behavior shaping.” Since it is such things which form the heart and soul of humanistic studies, the use o behavioral objectives is highly questionable beyond the level of rudimentary skill development.
Teaching Culture Through the Audio‐Motor Unit
Authors: Elkins Robert J. , Kalivoda Theodore B. , Morain Genelle
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The audio‐motor unit, an effective device for developing skill in listening comprehension, has proved to be an equally valuable technique for cross‐cultural learning. Units designed around picnic customs of four cultures (American, French, German, Spanish) illustrate the cultural impact inherent in the audio‐motor strategy. Through visual, auditory, and motor involvement, students perceive basic customs unique to each culture. Less obvious differences are brought to light in follow‐up activities. The use of “discussion stimulators” offers exciting possibilities for such cultural expansion. Students are provided general questions and a list of facilitating cues for small group exploration. Conclusions of the small groups are presented to the entire class in an oral exchange which evaluates the validity of cultural assumptions. Other discussion activities to accompany an audio‐motor unit include culture capsules to bring cultural points into sharper focus and multi‐cultural comparisons to expand cross‐cultural learning beyond the boundaries of the target and native languages.
Principles and Techniques for Stimulating Foreign‐Language Conversation
Authors: Oates Michael D.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The principles and techniques most appropriate for carrying on pattern practice are not advantageous for encouraging conversational facility in the foreign language. Teacher behaviors for pattern‐practice drills and other partial‐skills exercises are made explicit in the voluminous teachers' manuals which accompany many modern textbooks. If a teacher follows them carefully, he can expect a measure of success during the rapid‐fire structural‐exercises part of the class. He should not, however, use these same techniques when his goal is to have students converse. If students are to develop the ability to converse, time must be set aside, during each class period, in which they are encouraged to express their feelings, tastes, and desires in the foreign language. The teacher's behavior is the key to the success or failure in this domain. Students who express themselves in the foreign language are more motivated to develop reading and writing skills as well. The raison d'tre of this article is to explain certain techniques which will help teachers to encourage active student use of the foreign language and therefore motivate students in their foreign language study.
The Three R's of Individualization: Reeducation, Responsibility, and Relevance*
Authors: Altman Howard B.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  An increasing number of critics of American education today point to the similarities between schools and jails. To avoid the repressive institutionalization in schools, instruction must be individualized and personalized to the needs and interests of learners. Reeducation for individualization is necessary for both teachers and students. What this entails is educating teachers to the importance of being human beings in the classroom, of viewing their students as human beings, of allowing their students freedom to learn and reeducating students to cope with the resulting classroom freedom. In the individualized classroom, the foreign language teacher bears a responsibility to facilitate student learning, an activity taking various forms one of which is conventional “teaching.” The student, too, bears a responsibility–that of progressing in his learning and allowing others to progress in theirs. To be “relevant,” teadiers must allow their students freedom to learn, guiding their lives, but never running them.
Concrete Poetry in the Beginning Foreign Language Class
Authors: Rollinson Joyce C.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  In the beginning foreign language class, concrete poetry offers students few, if any, grammatical problems but, rather, it involves them directly in the thought processes of the foreign language. A concrete poem is a linguistically simple arrangement of words or sounds which forms an object of play or of thinking. In dealing with such a poem, the student must participate actively, either by reading, hearing, speaking, or rewriting, in the construction of the poem and must supply a conceptual interpretation himself since none is given. The appearance and sound of the poem are one with its meaning. Therefore, while the student is looking at, reading, and reciting the poem, he is learning from his own direct experience what the foreign sounds mean. This linguistic and conceptual unity forms a nucleus for introducing related grammar and vocabulary items and, consequently, for using them in the meaningful context already established. This nucleus can form a very short segment of classroom time or lead to extensive study. In either case, concrete poetry offers an excellent opportunity for students to participate meaningfully–and immediately–in the foreign language.
Guiding Teachers to Respond to Individual Differences in the Affective Domain
Authors: Hancock Charles R.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Contemporary psychological findings indicate that the attitudinal/motivational variable is probably the single most important factor in academic success. This article describes an attempt to respond to the need for sensitizing prospective foreign language teachers to problems encountered by individual foreign language learners. The investigation of a viable approach for responding to this need was a doctoral study of the possible uses of simulation in the training of foreign language teachers. A series of realistic problem‐solving incidents was devised and presented to a group of undergraduate methods students. The problems focused on the affective domain, particularly attitude, motivation, and discipline. Selection of these three areas was based on a frequency count of perceived problems identified by inexperienced teachers and student teachers. Intended primarily for persons involved in teacher training, the article includes a structured procedural format for designing and implementing a simulation exercise.
For Methods Instructors: A Less Visible, Less Verbal Approach
Authors: Moskowitz Gertrude
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Methods instructors tend to dominate their courses telling preservice teachers what to do, how to do it, and then criticizing their efforts afterwards. Teachers‐in‐training seldom are given an opportunity to think for themselves. Yet, once involved in the profession, teachers are constantly confronted with situations requiring them to teach in areas for which they have not been prepared. They are expected to implement current innovations in their classes and work with curricular materials based on new or different philosophies; they are given classes different in age, grade, or level from those they customarily teach; they may even be assigned subjects in which they are not certified. Because teachers continually face new and changing situations, they should be prepared to learn how to learn on their own. Designing learner‐centered methods courses which shift the major responsibility for the teaching and the learning to preservice teachers promotes less dependency on the instructor, whose role changes from that of lecturer and demonstrator to resource and guide. If we expect teachers to foster independence in learning in their students, we should provide teacher training experiences which encourage similar independence in the teachers themselves.
Toward a New Eclecticism in Modern‐Language Teaching
Authors: Boswell Richard E.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  There are three approaches current in American modern‐language teaching: rule‐implementation, direct, and behaviorist, and they are manifested primarily in the grammar‐translation, direct, and audiolingual methods. Direct method stresses association of words and their concepts; audiolingual method stresses mastery of the surface structure; and grammar‐translation stresses the rational analysis of language. The main psycholinguistic issues are semantic, whether to stress meaning or grammar, and cognitive, whether to stress conscious or unconscious learning. Our profession is moving, as, indeed it should, in the direction of an electic method which eschews parochial adherence to a single principle of learning and which takes cognizance of all factors and combines the three methods in a well‐integrated manner.
Sense and Nonsense in Foreign Language Textbooks
Authors: Steiner Florence
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The textbook of the future will be different from that of the present. It will be flexible and adaptable to various pacings. It will be interest centered. Some materials may be self‐teaching materials to allow for small‐group work and individualized instruction. Culture, values, and interest areas will be featured. Greater emphasis will be placed on people living in or near the United States. Some books will deal with the skill only, and many textbooks will be accompanied by performance objectives and criterion‐referenced tests.
Teaching Toward Affective Goals in Foreign Languages
Authors: Disick Renée S.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Although the affective results of foreign language learning have been cited to justify enrollment in this field, considerably less attention has been devoted to evaluating the development of student feelings than has been devoted to measuring the growth of their cognitive skills. This article presents a taxonomy of three stages of affective behavior susceptible to development in the language classroom. It identifies student behaviors at each stage, suggests how these behaviors may be encouraged, and provides examples of relevant teacher observations and items suitable for student questionnaires.
The Enhancement of Figural Creativity Through Second Language Learning at the Elementary School Level
Authors: Landry Richard G.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The main hypothesis of this study is that the experience of learning a second language at the elementary school level is positively correlated to divergent thinking in figural tasks. Research studies on learning sets and on bilingualism suggest that through experience individuals become more flexible in their thinking. This study is concerned with flexibility in thinking through experience with a foreign language. Comparisons are made between second language learners and single language learners using multivariate analysis of variance with figural fluency and figural flexibility as dependent variables. The second language learners score significantly higher than do the monolingual pupils on both variables. Second language learning appears, therefore, not only to provide children with the ability to depart from the traditional approaches to a problem but also to supply them with possible rich resources for new and different ideas.
Social Psychology and Foreign‐Language Teaching
Authors: Cooke Madeline A.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Social psychologists agree that attitudes can and do change. However, they offer the foreign‐language teacher no formula for effecting a prescribed change in student attitudes. Information about how attitudes develop, how they are changed, and their relationships to behavior may help the teacher understand why attitude change is difficult.

No one is born with attitudes. These are learned at home, from peers, and from society. Students usually come into the foreign‐language classroom with ethnic attitudes already formed.

Attitudes may change in order to reduce dissonance and tensions or to please one's superiors or friends. If the change is to be permanent, however, the attitude must be internalized into one's value system. Sometimes attitudes change when people are given insights into the ego defense mechanisms which may be the basis of their prejudices. Role playing is a promising means of changing attitudes.

Attitudes are not the sole determiner of behavior, and techniques developed to change how a person talks about his behavior will not necessarily produce changes in it. One should begin attitude‐related activities in first‐year classes and continue through the advanced levels. Because attitudes have different origins and serve different functions for different people, a variety of approaches seems wise.
An Assessment of Attitudes and Behaviors of Foreign Language Teachers
Authors: Papalia Anthony
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The aim of this study was to identify what foreign language teachers believe are true characteristics of students and to provide empirical evidence about teachers' classroom behaviors as they relate to the teaching‐learning process. Nine secondary schools situated in urban and suburban communities participated in the study. All foreign language teachers of the participating schools and 1,046 of their randomly selected students were surveyed by means of the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory and the Teacher Description Instrument.

Teachers of foreign languages manifested, in varying degrees, supportive attitudes toward pupils. They favored students' self‐motivation and open interaction in the classroom, and they cautiously moved toward a student‐centered concept of instruction. Students, in identifying and rating their teachers' classroom behaviors, confirmed that foreign language teachers displayed student‐centered classroom behaviors and that they actualized learning by being sensitive to the needs and abilities of students.
Individualized German Instruction at the College Level—A Follow‐Up Report
Authors: Clausing Gerhard , Mueller Klaus A. , Stein Anneliese Sartori
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  To verify and substantiate statistically the results obtained after the first year of operation of the individualized basic German course at Berkeley, a second‐year study was conducted. Better‐known pretests were employed; a greater number and variety of posttests were used and were administered in a more systematic manner. The second study also included a more differentiated and rigorous analysis of the data than did the first study. For levels 1 and 2 the performance of individualized instruction students was significantly better on ‐all written tests than that of basic course students using the same textbook; the number of observations for level 3 was too small for statistical purposes. The oral performance of individualized instruction students was found to be equal to that of students in the basic course. The total combined enrollment of the courses under discussion increased substantially because of the great increases in the number of individualized instruction students during the two years. These findings confirm those of the first study and demonstrate the basic soundness of individualized foreign language instruction.
A Study of Vocabulary Learning in Context: The Effect of New‐Word Density in German Reading Materials*
Authors: Holley Freda M.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  An implicit assumption in foreign language reading material preparation has been that new‐word density should be kept low. The original hypothesis of the study reported here was that there would be a maximum facilitating density with respect to vocabulary acquisition and other factors. Several sources had suggested that a density of one new word per thirty to thirty‐five known words might be the desirable maximum. Seven new‐word densities ranging from one new word per 150 known words to one per fifteen known words were investigated. Results failed to support the original hypothesis: vocabulary learning continued to increase through the full range of densities investigated, and no consistently significant effects of new‐word density on comprehension, reading time, or student ratings of the material's difficulty or enjoyability were found.
An Audiolingual Methodology for Teaching Reading*
Authors: Metz Mary S.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Reading, in the native or foreign language, is dependent on spoken language at all stages of reading competence. Electromyographic studies show that subvocal pronunciation (covert oral behavior) precedes and facilitates comprehension. Good readers read for ideas. To be meaningful, reading material must relate to the experiential background of the reader in terms of language and content. All readers operate on three basic reading levels: (1) independent, (2) instructional, and (3) frustration level. The independent reading level, being below the maximum competence of the student, requires no special methodology; the frustration level, being beyond the immediate grasp of the student, is not a valid subject for instructional methodology. A methodology for teaching reading in a foreign language at instructional level, however, is desirable and can be derived from basic research in the acquisition of the reading skill in the native language. This methodology consists of: (1) an oral introduction to broaden the experiential base of the student; (2) oral vocabulary exercises to convert unfamiliar expressions into speech patterns; (3) oral reading of a dialog paralleling the literary text to preview its language and ideas; (4) directed reading of the text with intermittent questioning to focus attention and assess comprehension; (5) independent, individualized reading for deeper penetration; and (6) discussion for liberated speech.
The Success of the Private Language Schools: A Lesson to Be Learned
Authors: Marottoli Vincent
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  An investigation of several bibliographical sources revealed that very little has been written on the success of private language schools. This appears unusual since many of these schools are subsidiaries of corporations whose primary concern is, of course, profit. Thus, despite the cynicism and pessimism often prevalent in our ranks, private companies have found it profitable to enter the field of language instruction. There is evidently a need for these schools and many of them have developed their own techniques. I undertook a project to visit the most prominent private language schools, to analyze their methods, and to make suggestions based on my experiences.
The Grade Contract and the Language Class
Authors: Bornscheuer Joan H.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The contract system is gaining popularity in educational circles. Under this system, a student contracts with his professor for a particular grade based on the amount of work he believes he can accomplish. This article describes how the basic theories of contracting were applied to an upper division French literature class. It further analyzes the results achieved in terms of the realization of the goals of individualized instruction, fair evaluation, and emphasis on the learning process rather than on the grade.
Cross‐Cultural Education and Motivational Aspects of Foreign Language Study*
Authors: Wallach Martha Kaarsberg
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Although the value of culture is generally recognized, it is difficult to “teach“; it must be experienced. Students can be prepared for such an experience. The University of Wisconsin‐Green Bay, a three‐year‐old school with an interdisciplinary academic plan, has made culture part of its curriculum. Students are required to take one semester of work preparing them for the cross‐cultural experience. The actual experience is offered in the next semester.

One option is a one‐month field trip to Europe under the supervision of an instructor familiar with the culture and language. A knowledge of the language on the part of the student is optional. The goal is a better understanding of one's own culture and an acquaintance with a foreign culture. The cross‐cultural experience has been found to be a strong motivating force for language study.
French Culture's Concern for Relationships: Relationism
Authors: Nostrand Howard L.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Intermediate between American particularism, the emphasis on the concrete case is a primary, independent reality, and Russian universalism, the tendency toward a comprehensive and closed system of ideas, stands the intellectual approach of seeking meaning in the form of an open structure of relationships. Bearers of french culture, the less educated as well as the intellectuals, manifest the relational mode of thought in their grammar's insistence upon explicit context; in their strong tendency to group perceptions in a centralizing, radial pattern or a binary contrast; in their habit of compositional form, whether the occasion is a discourse, a gesture, or the choosing of dishes from a restaurantenu; and in the highly patterned human relations that constitute the institutions of French society. Relationism became a dominant characteristic toward 1700, in the course of the culture's evolution away from its Roman parent toward the pole of particularism. Self‐defense of the relational mentality against encroaching particularism may be one cause of the twentieth‐century preoccupation with “the absurd,” i.e. with the percepts that refuse to fall into satisfying relationships. Existentialism was a relationistic response to the absurd: what it sought in the most certain of man's percepts–the existence of the experiencing self at the moment–was the foundation on which to reconstruct a coherent world picture.
Discovery of Latent Structure as the Major Process in Language Acquisition: Implications for the Second Language Program
Authors: Reid Constance L.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Generative‐transformational grammar has often been cited as a possible theoretical model for the psychological processes involved in first language acquisition. Of these processes, the discovery of latent structure is widely considered to be the major one. Such discovery may result primarily from inferential operations, and it is plausible that these operations are influential in second language acquisition as well as in first language acquisition. If the discovery of latent structure through inferencing characterizes second language acquisition, a transformational grammar model may have implications for second language learning and instruction. A language program reflecting this model would emphasize the role of syntax in expressing meaning. Instructional techniques based on sets of transformationally related sentences would facilitate the manipulation of syntax while holding meaning constant. Concentration on basic structural alternatives would involve the learner directly with latent structure and encourage its discovery. It would also allow him to focus on expressing his own meaning by deciding from among the structural alternatives for conveying it. Decisions made at the syntactic level would restrict choices at the morphological and phonological levels. Techniques of language habit theory might be useful in mastering the fixed elements of the closed systems at these levels. This theory would thus be incorporated into the more powerful theory of generative‐transformational grammar.
Teaching Pronunciation and Generative Phonology
Authors: Hammerly Hector M.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  It has been claimed that generative phonology will effect major changes in the pronunciation sections of foreign language textbooks. However, being highly mentalistic, complex, antibehavioristic, computer‐like, and abstract, generative phonology can be practically applied to teaching second language pronunciation in only a very limited way.
The Foreign Language Teacher: Background and Attitudes
Authors: Elmquist Anne M.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  This study explores the attitudes of modern foreign language teachers toward current aspects and trends of the profession. In order to obtain an accurate picture, the educational and linguistic background of the teachers was investigated along with attitudes toward methodology, textbooks, language laboratories, teacher preparation, and other facets of modern foreign language instruction. Data were derived from a questionnaire completed by 240 Texas teachers. Responses are 58.8% from Spanish teachers, 22.5% French, 13.3% German, and 5.4% from teachers of two foreign languages. All the teachers in the study hold at least a baccalaureate degree. Master of arts or science degrees are held by 35.4%; 89.6% have standard certification; 86.2% are certified in the language they teach. While most of the teachers use audiolingual approaches and materials, the results show that they want and try to include more traditional grammar than the textbook provides. Teachers feel the audiolingual drills need supplementing. They are disappointed with the results of language laboratories. Many feel that reading and writing need to be introduced much earlier than is the practice. The need for better preparation for foreign language teaching is revealed. In general, teachers are pleased with their choice of profession; only twenty wish they had chosen another career.
Student Evaluation and Foreign Language Programs ‐ A Case Study
Authors: Schotta Sarita G.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Using questionnaires returned by randomly selected students, we studied the FL laboratory and department of State Supported University. The students' evaluation proved important because it revealed discrepancies between the faculty's and the students' views. The majority of students did not find their FL classes interesting and wanted all FL requirements abolished. They disliked laboratory work; however, they wanted the laboratory to remain open if it were programmed imaginatively and run efficiently. To find the basis for these opinions, we examined the students' comments and studied the management and personnel of the department.
Opinions of University Students About Language Teaching
Authors: Walker John L.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  University language students, writing in the essay portion of a recent departmental opinion questionnaire, clearly indicate that they wish more speaking practice and less ritualized grammar in their language training. Rather than studying language as if it were a museum exhibit under glass, they prefer experiencing its live, practical aspects in such a way that they can gain mastery over a central core of high‐frequency usage for their daily use. They also want professors who are willing to teach living language and who are enough interested in their students to use many different media in conducting this exploration of knowledge with them. The students themselves devise a list of good language‐teaching ideas for the resourceful teacher. These opinions are not frivolous; they are honest attempts at communication between student and teacher and provide clues to the language‐training needs of today's students.
Written Assignments—Valid Reinforcers of Speaking and Understanding
Authors: Pfister Guenter G.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  To insure the successful use of writing exercises in the first‐year language course, students must be asked to write only what they can understand and speak, and written work must be evaluated with an objective grading design. A three‐point grading design used for evaluating single sentences and a five‐point grading design appropriate for student‐produced dialogues allow for that objectivity. Measuring the written work of students against predetermined criteria enables the instructor to examine analytically the contributions of students who are developing at individual rates of progress without making favorable or unfavorable comparisons among students. The objectivity and reliability of the grading design was tested in an experiment in which three instructors each evaluated thirty themes. The correlation between the three sets of grades was determined to be 0.93.
The Imaginative Use of Projected Visuals
Authors: Carter Thomas P.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Visual materials for the overhead projector are often misused or used uneconomically. The frequent recourse to visual aids merely because they are visual is pedagogically and psychologically questionable. This article offers suggestions for (1) types of material that most effectively can be given an immediate visual reference and (2) methods by which the teacher can best present such materials, with reference to oral activity in the classroom. In the discussion of types of materials, it is proposed that materials designed for projection should follow structural rather than purely contextual criteria; the selection of linguistic patterns to be used precedes the choice of specific content. It also seems preferable to design materials according to their degree of visual appropriateness or necessity. Various techniques for presenting materials are discussed, for both teacher‐controlled and free expression. Standard oral exercises and visually oriented exercises share two important principles: economy and imagination. By economy is understood the generation of many possible sentences from a limited number of images or cues; imagination, especially in its etymological sense, is essential for devising such materials and exploiting them through a variety of techniques. The ultimate proposal is for a reexamination of the philosophy and implementation of projected visual aids.
Study Abroad Part I: A Comparative Test of Attitudes and Opinions
Authors: Bicknese Gunther
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  Little systematic research has been done regarding the effect of study abroad on American students, and few criteria for the success of programs have been established. As the director of the Millersville Year in Marburg (1963–1966), this writer took three separate polls of the participants: (1) to test the psychological impact objectively at the beginning and end of each year, (2) to register subjective impressions that surfaced at the conclusion of the program, and (3) to ascertain the students' matured views one year after their return to America. These evaluations, completed in 1967, are as meaningful now as they were then. The profession has yet to act on many of the recommendations. The students corrected their preconceived ideas of Europe; they became fluent in German and familiar with the culture; and they matured as scholars and persons. All experienced culture shock, and most became, at least temporarily, Germanophiles. The following major conclusions were drawn from this study: (1) integration into the host society should be gradual; (2) the “target‐language‐only” rule should be based on voluntary cooperation; and (3) the greatest benefits are achieved after the first five months abroad. Because study abroad could become a vital tool in furthering the study of languages and culture, more research is urgently needed.
The Native Paraprofessional: Identifying His Role in the Foreign Language Program
Authors: Hammelmann William M. R. , Nielsen Melvin L.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  The use of native speaker paraprofessionals may be one way of helping today's foreign language teacher overcome the difficulties inherent in being many things to many students. Proceeding from an identification of the problems that teachers face in trying to provide a more comprehensive approach to foreign language teaching, an experiment was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the native paraprofessional. The project proposed a closer working relationship between the native speaker and the classroom teacher. The results of the experiment appeared to indicate significant improvements in speaking, reading, and listening skills and a more positive attitude toward the target culture. Although the native paraprofessional may be a partial answer for today's teacher, increased involvement of students and the native speaker is essential at all stages of planning to insure accountability.
Using the Student Assistant in Individualized Foreign‐Language Instruction
Authors: Cameron‐Bacon Susan M.
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACT  In foreign language instruction, both in high school and in college, there is an increasing trend both toward large classes and toward individualized instruction. The teacher may conclude that in individualization, the students receive less individual attention compared with the entire period of exposure in a traditional class. By incorporating assistants into the program, the students not only receive more attention in each hour, but also more diversified exposure to the language. The advantages of including student assistants in high school and college classrooms appear to be greater than the difficulties the teacher might expect.