Language learning and teaching - theoryand practice

Language teaching97-279 Arendt, Manfred (Realschule, Hameln). Simulationen. [Simulations.] DerFremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch (Stuttgart, Germany), 2 (1997), 4-10.

This paper discusses simulations in classroom foreignlanguage teaching, listing these advantages: they arestudent- and task-oriented, they integrate a varietyof skills, learning in a social context is encouraged,and, most importantly, they are grounded in reality.Simulations should be differentiated from other sim-ilar, interactive tasks such as role-plays, games andprojects. The emphasis is on learning via gatheringand sharing of information, and discussion, and anyelement of fun is a positive side-effect. Three differ-ent types of simulation are presented. Type 1 dealswith problems of general interest, where each stu-

dent assumes a role and gathers, exchanges and pre-sents information pertinent to that role. Type 2 putsthe emphasis on private conflicts that arise in every-day situations, e.g. planning a day out, where theaim is to arrive at a compromise solution acceptableto all. In Type 3, Computer Simulations, studentseither work individually or in groups with a softwareprogram. Finally, the author notes the flexibility ofuse of simulations. The degree of difficulty can easilybe adapted to suit a particular group, e.g. by choos-ing issues that interest the students.

97-280 Aski, Janice M. (U. of Wisconsin-Madison). Lightening the teacher's load:linguistic analysis and language instruction. Italics (Columbus, OH), 73,4 (1996),473-92.

It is argued in this paper that training in linguisticanalysis can help the instructor in recognising lan-guage patterns and productive rules which textbooksoften fail to indicate. The teaching of Italian is usu-ally characterised in textbooks by the presentation ofcertain aspects of the language in tables and lists,which produce large numbers of exceptions andwhich rely on memorisation by students. Theapproach suggested here, based on semantics and aknowledge of the history of the language, enablesteachers to present language in a more logical, flexi-

ble, informative and productive way. It is thought tobe beneficial to both teachers and students, givingthe former more confidence in answering questionsabout the language, and stimulating in the latter acuriosity that often leads beyond the mere mechan-ics of language. A number of detailed examples aregiven, covering different aspects of Italian grammartraditionally presented in tables/lists. Areas for fur-ther research are indicated, in particular the effectthat this approach has on students' learning: initialreactions appear to be very positive.

97-281 Battels, Hildegard (U. Frankfurt/Main). Bilder im Fremdsprachenuntericcht.[Pictures in foreign language teaching.] Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Franzosisch(Stuttgart, Germany), 1 (1997) 4-13.

This paper discusses the use of pictures in foreignlanguage (FL) teaching and suggests criteria for theirselection. Recently there have been calls for FLteaching to cease regarding language as the primarychannel of information transmission and instead startteaching pupils how to appreciate and interpret pic-tures in a way which does not make them subordi-nate to text. Pictures and language are often usedtogether but each medium follows its own rules. It isimportant that pictures stimulate speculation aboutthe background to and consequences of the situation

they depict by leaving visual 'room' for pupils' imag-inations to work. Accounts of creative picture-basedFL work are provided, including an exhibition visitwith follow-up and the use of comic books andpolitical caricatures. The author describes pictureinterpretation which is not predicated on 'one rightanswer' but enables pupils to develop their own sub-jective responses to visual images while refining theirabilities to perceive the unfamiliar. It is felt that thepictures best suited to these aims are those notdesigned for didactic purposes.

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Language teaching97-282 Benesch, Sarah (City U. of New York). Needs analysis and curriculumdevelopment in EAP: an example of a critical approach. TESOL Quarterly (Alexandria,VA), 30, 4 (1996), 723-38.

Needs analysis research in English for academic pur-poses (EAP) and English for special purposes (ESP) ismainly descriptive. Researchers identify and describeexisting elements of the target situation to providethe basis for curriculum development. Critical needsanalysis, on the other hand, considers the target situ-ation as a site of possible reform. It takes intoaccount the hierarchical nature of social institutions

and treats inequality, both inside and outside theinstitution, as a central concern. This article exploresthe literature on needs analysis, offers critical needsanalysis as an alternative approach to examining tar-get situations, and describes an example of criticalneeds analysis and EAP curriculum developmentin a paired English as a second language (ESL)writing/psychology course at a U.S. college.

97-283 Brett, Paul (U. of Wolverhampton). A comparative study of the effects of theuse of multimedia on listening comprehension. System (Oxford), 25, 1 (1997), 39-53.

Listening is a key second language skill which has avital role in the language acquisition process, and itsdevelopment is of prime concern to language teach-ers. Computer software applications to further lan-guage learning are becoming commonplace andwith advances in technology are now able to includemultimedia that deliver video and audio in combi-nation with text. This study investigates listeningperformance in a computer-based multimedia envi-ronment. It compares success rates of advancedundergraduate learners of English on comprehensionand language recall tasks while using the three differ-

ent media of audio, video and multimedia. Resultsof performance on tasks showed more effectivecomprehension and recall while using multimediathan either audio or video plus pen and paper. Alearner questionnaire indicated possible reasons forthe greater success of multimedia. Implications ofthese results for the use of multimedia for listeningcomprehension are then discussed. Among these arethat multi-media-delivered listening comprehensiontasks may be more efficient and that ongoing feed-back to tasks should improve comprehension.

97-284 Cauldwell, Richard and Hewings, Martin (U. of Birmingham). Intonationrules in ELT textbooks. ELTJournal (Oxford), 50, 4 (1996), 327-34.

This paper examines in detail the two rules of into-nation perhaps most commonly found in Englishlanguage teaching (ELT) textbooks, those concern-ing intonation in lists and intonation in questions. Itis argued that the rules given are inadequate asdescriptions of what occurs in naturally occurringspeech. Alternative analyses are offered of the vari-ous patterns of intonation found in lists and in ques-

tions, using the discourse intonation model. In con-clusion it is suggested that teachers and materialswriters need to provide learners with descriptions ofintonation which will allow them to understand thecommunicative significance of the patterns of into-nation identified in such rules, and of the exceptionsto those rules.

97-285 Chambers, Fred (Chichester Inst. of Higher Ed.). Seeking consensus incoursebook evaluation. ELT Journal (Oxford), 51,1 (1997), 29-35.

Coursebook evaluation and selection involving thewhole group of potential teacher-users is one way ofensuring consensus and joint ownership'. This arti-cle describes a practical exercise in which teachersmade use of a pro-forma and group discussion toassess the appropriacy of particular English languageteaching books. The author suggests that a carefullyconstructed set of criteria relating to essential, desir-able and additional elements (along with appropriateweightings) can reduce the 'fuzziness' associated

with coursebook evaluation. Essential features iden-tified by the teachers might include, for example, aspecific requirement in regard to language level,teaching approach or cost. Desirable features wouldreflect preferences for such elements as the variety ofexercise types available, and whether the coursebookis accompanied by cassettes or a teacher's book. Thefeatures are then given a weighting/numerical score,and considered together with 'risk factors', i.e. thepotential consequences if the selection turns out to

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Language learning and teachingbe wrong. The author suggests that a structured,criterial, group-based approach could also be effec-

tive for evaluating computer hardware and software,video equipment, or even staff recruitment.

97-286 Ciccarelli, Andrea (Indiana U.). Teaching culture through language: sugges-tions for the Italian language class. Italics (Columbus, OH), 73, 4 (1996), 563-76.

This article addresses the problem of language learn-ers' attitudes towards the target language culture andhow this may be remedied. Language learners —particularly beginners - often think of learning alanguage as requiring only memorisation and trans-lation, without considering that a language is part ofits own culture and cannot be fully understoodwithout an awareness of that culture. At collegelevel, in particular, learners tend to consider lan-guage learning an easy option and do not see it as aserious discipline on a par with other subjects they

study. It is argued, however, that being made awareof the foreign culture and comparing it to their owncan motivate and inform students. The three aspectsof linguistic-cultural study in Italian described areparalanguage and onomatopoeia, etymology, andproverbs, and ways of exploiting these languageareas for cultural purposes are described in detail. It isreported that students respond enthusiastically to thisapproach and that it should encourage them to lookbeyond the mechanics of the target language at theworld beyond which has generated it.

97-287 Clas, Andre (Montreal U.). Dictionnaires generaux bilingues. Le dictionnairebilingue canadien. [General bilingual dictionaries, and the Bilingual Canadian Dictionary.]Cahiers de Lexicologie (Paris), 69 (1996-2), 127-44.

The author first briefly discusses bilingual dictionar-ies in general, then describes the specific area towhich the Bilingual Canadian Dictionary belongs.The Dictionary is currently being compiled; itspotential users are identified, and the different ques-tions relating to its macrostructure and microstruc-ture are examined. It is taking its documentaryinformation from a database of 310.4 million words.

The specificity of the Dictionary is explained, andvarious features are examined: language levels, bor-rowings, the choice of technical and scientific termsfor inclusion, and the question of equivalences. TheDictionary is being prepared by students under thesupervision of professional lexicographers and uni-versity professors.

97-288 Courtney, Michael (Hong Kong U. of Science and Technology). Talking tolearn: selecting and using peer group oral tasks. ELT Journal (Oxford), 50, 4 (1997),318-26.

There is general consensus that oral communicationtasks contribute to second language acquisition,although no formal link has been established. Thisarticle begins by examining research into task-basedlearning and group work, and considers how thisrelates to second language acquisition in order todetermine whether teachers can make a principledselection of oral communication tasks based on out-put potential. A classification is developed compris-ing the objectives of a task, what students do andhow the information is controlled. Classroom tasks

are then selected according to this taxonomy, andthe relationship between task types and performanceis investigated by recording and quantifying stu-dents' output. Preliminary results confirm that dis-cussion tasks elicit longer turns than jigsaw orinformation-gap tasks. As a follow-up, the authorplans to interview students to determine how theydecide which strategies to use as they carry out tasks.It is claimed that group communication tasks chosenby the teacher according to this taxonomy will havepotential for effective language development.

97-289 Dabene, Louise (U. Stendhal, Grenoble). Pour une contrastivite «revisitee».[Contrastive analysis 'revisited'.] Etudes de Linguistique Appliquee (Paris), 104 (1996),393-400.

It is argued here that, although contrastive analysislost its prominence against the combined forces of

progress in language acquisition research and thedevelopment of the communicative approach, it has

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Language teachinga useful role to play in language teaching, particu-larly if the first and second languages are related (e.g.French and Spanish). When it first came to promi-nence, contrastive analysis was used negatively: itwarned learners against false friends to such an extentthat they were reluctant to use expressions that wereclearly similar. However, research into the learningof a language closely related to the mother tongueshows that the learner's mother tongue is crucial as

the starting point for the learning process, partlybecause of obvious similarities between the lan-guages, but also because learners bring to the task ofmaking sense of the target language experience ofthe study of their own (and thus a metalanguage). Itis concluded, therefore, that contrastive analysisshould be reconsidered as a tool for heightening —and exploiting — learners' awareness of both the tar-get language and their own.

97-290 Decure, Nicole (U. Toulouse III). Sous la plage, les paves. [Beneath the beach,the stones.] Les apres-midi de LAIRDIL (Toulouse), 5 (1995), 33-47.

In view of the fact that techniques such as jigsaw andpairwork are often not as successful or widely used asmight be expected, a survey was conducted to dis-cover what students' perception of pairwork reallywas. The sample consisted of students of science ormedicine who had chosen to study a language as anoption and were generally highly motivated. At thebeginning of the academic year, 71 students (41advanced and 30 intermediate) were asked to fill in aquestionnaire assessing the relative merits of pair-work and games, and at the end of the year 84 stu-

dents (39 advanced and 45 intermediate). Therewere few significant differences between the answersof the two groups, or between the advanced and theintermediate levels. Generally speaking, studentsviewed both activities positively, counteracting theviews of some researchers that pairwork is inherentlystressful. However, some respondents gave contra-dictory replies, suggesting that they felt games werenot really work and that they were suspicious ofanything enjoyable.

97-291 Decure, Nicole (U. Toulouse III). Generates sur les rapports entre L1 et L2dans I'enseignement en France. [General remarks on the relationship between L1 andL2 in teaching in France.] Les apres-midi de LAIRDIL (Toulouse), 6 (1995), 30-56.

In France use of the first language (LI) has long beenseen as undesirable when learning a second language(L2), even though the transfer of meaning from LIto L2 is common. Left alone, students with the sameLI will use that rather than L2 when speakingtogether, and LI can be an aid to understanding L2.Mastery of one language can help in the understand-ing of another. This paper reports on an experimentamongst 63 French-speaking advanced students ofscience and medicine which attempted to demon-strate that the knowledge of a given context bymeans of a French text would enable better compre-

hension of an equivalent English text. Half thegroup first read a French text followed by a parallelEnglish text. The other half read the English text,then the French text, and then a third text inEnglish. Whatever the order, students underlinedany unknown items in the English texts. Fewerwords were underlined when the French text wasread first, and understanding improved in the secondgroup after reading the French text. The authorconcludes that the experiment shows that LI is auseful tool to comprehension.

97-292 Dornyei, Zoltan (Eotvos Lorand U.) and Malderez, Angi (U. of Leeds). Groupdynamics and foreign language teaching. System (Oxford), 25,1 (1997), 65-81.

This paper highlights the importance of the dynam-ics of the learner group in shaping the second lan-guage (L2) learning process. It is argued that groupcharacteristics and group processes significantly con-tribute to any success or failure in the L2 classroom,and that therefore language teachers could poten-tially benefit from an awareness of the principles of

group dynamics. An overview is first provided ofthe aspects of classroom dynamics considered mostrelevant to L2 teaching. Then, based on the theo-retical insights and their own teaching experience,the authors make practical suggestions for teacherson how to exploit the principles of group dynamicsin their classrooms to good effect.

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Language learning and teaching97-293 Dyer, Brenda (Chuo U., Tokyo). L1 and l_2 composition theories: Hillocks''environmental mode' and task-based language teaching. ELT Journal (Oxford), 50, 4(1996), 312-7.

It has been a decade since Hillocks published hiscomprehensive survey and analysis of experimentalstudies in 6rst language (LI) composition instruc-tion, which made a persuasive criticism of pureprocess writing instruction. Hillocks concluded thata task-based, process/product combination (the'environmental mode') was the most effective modeof LI composition instruction. This conclusion hasbeen mirrored in the research of Horowitz, Long

and others involved in second language (L2) task-based instruction. This paper summarises Hillocks'findings and compares them to research into L2composition instruction. Implications for teachingwriting to students of English as a foreign/secondlanguage are considered, and a process/product,task-based approach to writing instruction is recom-mended.

97-294 Ellis, Rod (Temple U.). The empirical evaluation of language teaching materi-als. ELT Journal (Oxford), 51, 1 (1997), 36-42.

This article distinguishes two types of materials eval-uation: a predictive evaluation designed to make adecision regarding what materials to use, and a retro-spective evaluation designed to examine materialsthat have actually been used. Retrospective evalua-tions can be impressionistic or empirical. It is sug-

gested that one way in which teachers can conductempirical evaluations is by investigating specificteaching tasks. A procedure for conducting a taskevaluation is described. Finally, it is suggested thattask evaluations constitute a kind of action researchthat can contribute to reflective practice in teaching.

97-295 Ellis, Rod (Temple U.). SLA and language pedagogy: an educational perspec-tive. Studies in Second Language Acquisition (New York), 19, 1 (1997), 69-92.

Many second language acquisition (SLA) researchershave demonstrated an interest in language pedagogy(LP), yet the relationship between SLA and LP is aproblematic one, not so much because of the limita-tions of SLA itself but because the two disciplinesinvolve different 'Discourses'. This paper argues thatan educational perspective is needed in order toexamine how SLA can contribute to LP. Such a per-spective suggests ways in which SLA can beappraised in a pedagogically relevant manner and,more importantly, what kinds of applications may befruitful. It is suggested that relevance is more likelyto be achieved if SLA is used to address issues thatpractitioners nominate as important to them.Different modes of application are considered,

reflecting different ways of viewing teaching. Abehavioural model, according to which teachersimplement those behaviours that research has shownto be effective, is rejected. However, SLA can serveas an important source of information that can helpto shape practitioners' theories of teaching (a cogni-tive model). Most importantly, it constitutes a sourceof 'provisional specifications' that practitioners canevaluate in their own contexts of action (an interpre-tation model). SLA also affords practitioners themeans for conducting their own investigations. Inshort, an educational perspective suggests that, forSLA to influence LP, practitioners need assistance intransforming knowledge about L2 acquisition intopractice.

97-296 Ekdawi, Sarah (Queen's U., Belfast). The noises made by poems: an explo-ration of the use of poetry in the advanced English language classroom. Teanga (Dublin),16(1996), 97-106.

This article discusses the use of poetry in second lan-guage classrooms, focusing in particular on the'noises' made by poems, i.e. their acoustic, asopposed to syntactic, lexical or figurative, texture.The paper is concerned with a particular group of

advanced English language learners and the multipleuses of poetry to cater to their specific needs. Theauthor first outlines the theoretical basis of the dis-cussion, drawing on literary as well as applied lin-guistic theory, then moves on to a more general

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Language teachingdiscussion of the classroom use of poetry under threeheadings: metrics, grammatical devices and rhetori-cal devices. It is suggested that there is enormousbenefit to be derived from poetry in the sphere of

oracy, extending from oral discussion of grammaticaland rhetorical features to rhythmical reading aloudand the study of metrics as a special case of Englishintonation.

97-297 Gaies, Stephen (U. of Northern Iowa). Maximising the value of jigsaw activi-ties. Les apres-midi de LAIRDIL (Toulouse), 5 (1995), 9-22.

In this article Jigsaw activity is described and definedand the conditions for success set out. Jigsaw sharessome features with other forms of cooperative orgroup learning e.g. positive interdependence andface-to-face interaction between learners. In Jigsaw,however, it is not possible for an individual learnerto opt out: everyone is accountable for at least somepart of the solution to a problem. Jigsaw demands

commitment from the teacher and long-term plan-ning. The article discusses how decisions need to betaken regarding the composition of the groups, theamount of teacher guidance, type of Jigsaw activityand choice of materials, use of first language or notand incentives to learning. Thoughtful considerationat all levels of decision-making is a precondition formaximising the value of Jigsaw.

97-298 Giles Jones, Marian, and Norman, Nigel (U. of Wales). Bilingual teaching insecondary education and the problem of teacher supply. Language Learning Journal(Rugby), 15(1997), 60-7.

This article discusses the issue of the use of foreignlanguages (FLs) as the medium of teaching for 'non-linguistic' subjects such as mathematics, history andscience. The immersion programmes in Canada andWales are considered and it is suggested that it maybe beneficial for Britain to introduce the teaching ofcurriculum subjects in FLs such as French, Germanor Spanish. The advantage of such a programmewould be to increase language proficiency by pro-viding exposure to a language in other subjectlessons. The main consideration in establishing thisinnovation would be the possible source of properly

trained staff able to teach history or maths etc. in anFL. In order to find out to what extent currentteacher trainees would be able to teach in a foreignlanguage a series of surveys were carried out, ques-tioning potential teachers about their language train-ing and proficiency. A number of conclusions weredrawn from these surveys and it was found that,whilst the idea of teaching subjects through themedium of a second or foreign language is becomingincreasingly popular, government policy on foreignlanguage teaching in general means that finding suit-able British teachers would be very difficult.

97-299 Goldstein, Tara (Toronto U.). Bilingual life in a multilingual high school class-room: teaching and learning in Cantonese and English. The Canadian Modern LanguageReview (Toronto, Ont), 53, 2 (1997), 356-72.

This paper explores the ways in which a group ofCantonese-speaking math students and theirCantonese-speaking teacher use different languagesto achieve academic and social success in their multi-lingual high-school classroom. It also discusses theinter-ethnic/interracial tensions that are related tothe use of languages other than English in the multi-lingual classroom, and raises questions around the

advantages and disadvantages of multilingual teach-ing practices in terms of issues of accommodationand equity in multilingual, multicultural educationalsettings. In conclusion, it seems that action andteacher research projects on negotiating languagepractices in multilingual classrooms are very muchneeded.

97-300 Gould, M. (Belconnen High School). Teaching languages to students at risk.Babel (Victoria, Australia), 31, 3 (1996), 4-9.

Many educators have long assumed that studentswho require assistance in their first language cannotsuccessfully acquire a second language. They arguethat forcing low-achievers to study a language will

only induce failure. This paper reports on oneteacher's study of the foreign language learning envi-ronment of small groups of low-achieving studentsin an Australian high school. A combination of

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Language learning and teachinginterviews with local teaching staff and students indicated both some contradiction with regard tolearning Indonesian, together with data surveys of the reasons for failure of these students and distinctacademic attainment, revealed that initial hypotheses solutions to the problems. It is claimed that taskconcerning the ability of low-achieving students to design and class size may dictate the amount of suc-progress in a foreign language may have to be cess achieved,revised. Interview protocols from local teachers

97-301 Graden, Ellen Collie (U. of North Carolina). How language teachers' beliefsabout reading instruction are mediated by their beliefs about students. Foreign LanguageAnnals (New York), 29, 3 (1996), 387-95.

When the beliefs about reading and reading instruc-tion of six secondary foreign language teachers werecompared with their instructional classroom prac-tices, inconsistencies were found in three areas. Allsix teachers in this qualitative study believed thatreading proficiency is facilitated by providing stu-dents with frequent opportunities for reading prac-tice, that the use of the target language is preferablefor reading instruction, and that oral reading inter-

feres with reading comprehension. Yet, in practice,all six teachers compromised these beliefs because ofpoor student performance. Implications for teachereducation programmes include the need to providea firmer grounding in second language readingdevelopment, to explore the reality of competingbelief systems, and to evolve new strategies to maxi-mise preferred reading practices.

97-302 Hemard, D. P. (London Guildhall U.). Design principles and guidelines forauthoring hypermedia language learning applications. System (Oxford), 25,1 (1997),9-27.

The recent popularity and potential of hypermediaauthoring shells are increasingly generating high-profile developments of hypermedia courseware inhigher education. However, whilst such projects arecurrently widely encouraged, very little help in theform of design and technical support is being madeavailable to individual authors with little or nodesign expertise. Furthermore, the commerciallyproduced hypermedia authoring software, whichwas never initially intended and therefore conceived

for delivering learning applications, is not a particu-larly helpful design tool within the learning environ-ment. Against this background, the purpose of thispaper is to provide keen, computer-literate languagespecialists in higher education with a manageable setof domain-specific design principles and guidelines,with a view to alleviating the complexity of designissues arising out of authoring hypermedia languagelearning applications.

97-303 Henry, Alex (Brunei). Natural chunks of language: teaching speech throughspeech. English for Specific Purposes (Oxford), 15, 4 (1996), 295-309.

There have been theories concerning the role ofprefabricated units in language production since themid 1970s. Recent work in corpus linguistics hashighlighted the importance of these fixed and vari-able units in speech and writing and has led to anawareness of the need to help language studentslearn and use these units appropriately. This paperoutlines a teaching approach for oral English for spe-cific purposes (ESP) which inputs chunks of natural

language orally that can be segmented by the learnerinto fixed and variable units and at the same timemakes the learners aware of the paradigmatic, syn-tagmatic and phonological aspects of the languagebeing taught. The teaching method makes extensiveuse of pictograms and ideograms as mnemonics andadvance organisers to make language drills and prac-tice meaningful by relating the language beingtaught to the learners' knowledge of the real world.

97-304 Hill, David R. (U. of Edinburgh). Survey review: Graded readers. ELTJournal(Oxford), 51, 1 (1997), 57-81.

The author describes graded readers in English, ofwhich he is an increasingly enthusiastic exponent, as

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constituting a major teaching resource greatly prizedby foreign teachers and learners of English, although

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Language teachinggenerally disparaged by applied linguists and native-speaker teachers of English as a foreign language onthe grounds of inauthenticity. They are extendedtexts, mostly fiction, written in language reduced interms of structures and vocabulary. They were ini-tially simplified versions of classics, modern novels,and fairy tales, but since the 1960s an increasing pro-portion have been written specially for a series.They are a product of the British English languageteaching industry, and almost unknown within the

American TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers ofOther Languages) industry. This article is a reviewof 39 series of graded readers containing 1,259 titles,updating and extending previous reviews by boththe author and a colleague. The readers reviewedhere are taken from the EPER (Edinburgh Projecton Extensive Reading) database, which has recordsof 164 series containing 3,182 titles, of which 69series and 1,621 titles are currently in print.

97-305 Horsfall, Philip (York U.Journal (Rugby), 15 (1997), 3-9.

Dictionary skills in MFL 11-16. Language Learning

Dictionary skills have tended to be neglected inmodern foreign language (MFL) teaching. Thisstudy discusses how and why changes in attitudestowards dictionary use have come about, and exam-ines the implications for classroom practice. Thedevelopment of a less prescriptive UK NationalCurriculum is traced, where learners are required touse bilingual dictionaries to understand the meaningand gist of texts, reflecting developments in commu-nicative language teaching. After considering thesuitability of monolingual and bilingual dictionariesand whether dictionary skills should be taught in thefirst (LI) or second language, it is suggested thatbilingual dictionaries are more suitable for post-

beginners and that the best vehicle is therefore theLI. The introduction of dictionary skills into assess-ment at Keystage 3 (age 11—14) and GCSE (GeneralCertificate of Secondary Education) is then consid-ered. The claim that this will benefit least able stu-dents is refuted, since only those who can usedictionaries effectively will benefit from their use inexams. Finally, the author suggests that dictionarywork motivates students to be responsible for theirown learning and boosts their confidence as theydevelop a transferable skill. For the teacher it helpswith differentiation and increases learners' vocabu-lary development.

97-306 Hyon, Sunny (California State U.). Genre in three traditions: implications forESL. TESOL Quarterly (Alexandria, VA), 30, 4 (1996), 693-722.

Within the last two decades, a number of researchershave been interested in genre as a tool for develop-ing first and second language instruction. Both genreand genre-based pedagogy, however, have beenconceived of in distinct ways by researchers in dif-ferent scholarly traditions and in different parts ofthe world, making the genre literature a complicatedbody of scholarship to understand. This article aimsto provide a map of current genre theories andteaching applications in three research areas wheregenre scholarship has taken significantly differentpaths: (a) English for specific purposes (ESP), (b)North American New Rhetoric studies, and (c)

Australian systemic functional linguistics. The articlecompares definitions and analyses of genres withinthese three traditions and examines their contexts,goals, and instructional frameworks for genre-basedpedagogy. The investigation reveals that ESP andAustralian genre research provide ESL instructorswith insights into the linguistic features of writtentexts as well as useful guidelines for presenting thesefeatures in classrooms. New Rhetoric scholarship,on the other hand, offers language teachers fullerperspectives on the institutional contexts aroundacademic and professional genres and the functionsgenres serve within these settings.

97-307 Jones, Rodney H. (City U. of Hong Kong). Beyond listen and repeat': pronun-ciation teaching materials and theories of second language acquisition. System (Oxford),25,1 (1997), 103-12.

Materials for the teaching of pronunciation havechanged significantly over the past 50 years fromemphasising the accurate production of discretesounds to concentrating more on the broader, more

communicative aspects of connected speech. Formany commercially produced materials, however,while the phonological focus has changed, theteaching techniques and task types presented con-

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Language learning and teachingtinue to be based on behaviourist notions of secondlanguage acquisition, largely relying on imitationand discrimination drills, reading aloud and con-trastive analysis of first and second language soundsystems. This paper briefly reviews recent researchinto the acquisition of second language phonology

and examines if and how these research findings arereflected in currently used pronunciation teachingmaterials. Suggestions are made for the future pro-duction of materials that incorporate activities morefully addressing the communicative, psychologicaland sociological dimensions of pronunciation.

97-308 Kaikkonen, Pauli (U. of Tampere, Finland). Learning a culture and a foreignlanguage at school - aspects of intercultural learning. Language Learning Journal(Rugby), 15 (1997), 47-51.

This article deals with an action research projectrelating to the teaching of intercultural understand-ing in the foreign language classroom at secondaryschool level. A two-year study which aimed to assessthe process by which learners acquired knowledge ofa 'foreign' culture was undertaken in a Finnish HighSchool. Culture in this context was defined as thecommunication and interaction between individualswhich results in a community. The author suggeststhat the individual learns about his/her own andothers' culture through interaction with others.

Thus the research project centred mainly on theinteraction between the Finnish High School stu-dents and their foreign exchange partners. Studentskept a journal recording their experiences whilst ontheir study visit to foreign country and also pro-duced a project on a culture-related theme, collect-ing the views of their foreign peers. In this way itwas hoped that the students would become 'sensi-tised' to the differences between their own and thetarget language culture.

97-309 Kauffmann, Ruth A. (Rockford Coll.). Writing to read and reading to write:teaching literature in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals (NewYork), 29, 3 (1996), 396-402.

This article discusses the use of second language(L2)-writing assignments in relation to reading liter-ature texts. It is suggested that, through writingassignments with an emphasis on 'writing to learn',the capacity of literature students to read and analyseassigned texts can be improved. The strategy advo-cated involved giving students open questions aspreparation for class discussion, which led to re-

formulation of the questions as topics for shortessays at frequent intervals and then to a re-writtenassignment, this time for grading. The results leadthe author to claim that this can lead to a higherlevel of motivation for self-correction, which willenable the students to overcome, rather thanfossilise, their errors.

97-310 Kell, James (Bell Sch. of Langs., Saffron Walden) and Newton, Clive(Lancaster U.). Roles of pathways in self-access centres. ELT Journal (Oxford), 51,1(1997), 48-53.

Despite widely acknowledged benefits, self-accesscan be an overwhelming experience for studentswithout sufficient support and guidance. This studyexamines the role of routes, or pathways, to directstudents through self-access resources. It reports onone approach to designing such a pathway throughself-access materials for general English and Englishfor Science and Technology at a training centre inChina, a monolingual, monocultural context, wherestudents are unaccustomed to self-study. The modelis based on a system of devolving support.Introductory sessions use jigsaw reading tasks to

establish the purpose and procedures of self-access,and students study in groups with a tutor on hand tosupport them. Because of students' lack of experi-ence of independent learning, the pathway wasbased around topics. Core tasks from a course bookand optional supplementary materials giving practicein a range of language elements were selected. It issuggested that, by designing uncomplicated path-ways, the needs of all learners are met, and self-accesscan fulfil a range of pedagogical functions such asbuilding confidence and motivating students.

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Language teaching97-311 Kennedy, Judith (U. of Warwick). Classroom explanatory discourse: a look athow teachers explain things to their students. Language Awareness (Clevedon), 5, 1(1996), 26-39.

In language teaching, explaining is a central part ofany teacher's work, but one that perhaps has notreceived much attention. For both teacher andleaner, trying to give effective explanations is diffi-cult and although there has been a long tradition ofresearch into classroom language of both teachers

and students, there is little on when and how teach-ers explain. Based on a variety of recorded classroomdata, this paper seeks to define and describe explana-tions and to suggest that teacher talk in the form ofexplanations can be a source of valuable languageinput for learners.

97-312 Kenning, Marie-Madeleine (U. of East Anglia, Norwich). GCSE decisions inthe joint languages model: a case study. Language Learning Journal (Rugby), 13 (1996),25-8.

This paper reports part of a longitudinal study fol-lowing a cohort of pupils in an 11-16 school (Years7 to 11) who are receiving a two-language pro-gramme involving any combination of French,German and Italian. The author looks first at Year 10enrolment choices, and then at the data gatheredthrough individual informal interviews and ques-tionnaire to document what lies behind pupils'choices. The combination generating most enthusi-

asm was German-Italian, with French-Italian theleast so, possibly because pupils at times confusedthese two languages. German scored highest on allmeasures: keenness to continue, difficulty, enjoy-ment, usefulness and the desire for native speakercontact. The pupils were generally in favour of thetwo-languages approach, arguing that it opened uppossibilities and gave them choice.

97-313 Marsh, Debra (U. of Hull). Computer conferencing: taking the loneliness out ofindependent learning. Language Learning Journal (Rugby), 15 (1997), 21-5.

The provision of self-access facilities and resources isnot sufficient in itself to bring about effective inde-pendent learning. This paper describes how a projectto promote learner independence in learners ofEnglish as a foreign language revealed the need toprovide support and guidance in any programme oflearner training, and shows how e-mail and com-puter conferencing can be used to encourage collab-orative learning among students, independent of atutor. The introduction of e-mail into a programmeof learner training indicated that students appreciatedthe rapid feedback it allows, felt in closer contact

with the tutor, gained a greater sense of security andconfidence, and acquired a greater awareness of thelanguage learning process. It was also found that stu-dents expressed themselves more freely to the tutorthan in conventional learner diaries, and thattutor-learner communication spontaneously devel-oped into learner-learner communication, thus pro-viding peer support and collaborative learning. It issuggested that computer-mediated conferencingcould provide similar learner support and overcomesome of the limitations of e-mail.

97-314 Masperi, Monica (U. Stendhal, Grenoble). Quelques reflexions autour du rolede la parente linguistique dans une approche de la comprehension ecrite de I'italien pardes francophones debutants. [The role of linguistic relatedness in an approach to Italianreading comprehension for French-speaking beginners.] Etudes de LinguistiqueAppliquee (Paris), 104 (1996), 491-501.

13 French-speaking adults, with no knowledge of tion, the author discusses 'false friends' and 'trueItalian or any other Romance language exceptFrench, were asked to attempt to read an Italiannewspaper text, thinking aloud as they did so. Basedpartly on this data and partly on her own introspec-

friends', factors affecting comprehension, and strate-gies likely to be used. Six kinds of cognates are dis-tinguished: (1) exact borrowings; (2) otheridentically spelt words; (3) consonant/vowel change,

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Language learning and teachinge.g. acceptable/accettabile; (4) morphological 'recom-position', e.g. incroyable/incredibile; (5) cognates indifferent registers; and (6) partial or total semanticdifference. Words in the last category are tradi-tionally called 'false friends', but in certain circum-stances, when the Italian can be related to aFrench 'core meaning', even they can aid text com-prehension. Four successful comprehension strate-gies at the word level are identified: globalprocessing, phonological processing, morphological

segmentation and semantic 'sliding' (glissement), e.g.when the first element in permesso di lavoro givesthe clue to permission de travail. But confidence wasa problem: subjects often failed to pursue correctguesses. A three-stage teaching procedure issuggested: (1) romanophonie, i.e. activating knowl-edge about the sounds of Romance languages;(2) guided research on vowel and consonant shifts;and (3) systematising the forms and structuresof Italian.

97-315 McCarthy, Michael (U. Toulouse III). Ten top principles in the design of vocab-ulary materials. Les apres-midi de LAIRDIL (Toulouse), 6 (1995), 8-21.

This article examines ten principles for the design ofvocabulary teaching, and considers their theoreticaljustification and their practical implications for theclassroom. P(rinciple)l suggests that good vocabu-lary teaching material must include activities whichenable learners to organise data themselves. P2 urgesthat a lexicon be phrasal too, and discusses binomialand trinomial structures. P3 discusses collocation,while P4 stresses the need for notional conceptsbeyond topic vocabulary. P5 considers word gram-mar and word formation. P6 examines limits forreceptive and productive use. P7 argues that lan-guage learners must be good vocabulary learners. P8urges that the metalanguage of vocabulary is just as

useful as that of grammar, and will help in develop-ing the learners' knowledge about vocabulary. P9considers activities and exercise types, wherebylearners can overcome the view that meaning isfuzzy. P10 argues that the perfect instrument forlearning combines monolingualism and bilingualism.The author also discusses the design of referencematerials, to include consideration of the kinds oforganisation useful for learners, and of alternatives toalphabetical dictionaries. Good reference skills mustbe taught, to include encyclopaedias, thesauruses andword finders; and dictionaries should becomeencoding as well as decoding instruments.

97-316 Meier, Ardith J. (U. of Northern Iowa). Teaching the universals of politeness.ELTJournal (Oxford), 51,1 (1997), 21-8.

This paper argues that research invoking Brown andLevinson's theory of politeness in order to determine'rules of politeness' should not form the basis of theteaching of 'politeness phenomena' in foreign andsecond language pedagogy. The author pinpointsseveral weakness in the model proposed by Brownand Levinson, particularly with regard to claims ofuniversality in their framework. It is suggested thatstudies translating the model into teaching materialshave relied too heavily on this flawed theory of uni-versality, resulting in materials which ignore issues of

context such as roles of dominance, power andrights. It is argued that learners should be madeaware of the variance of cultural and situational fac-tors, and that existing research should be refocusedto teach politeness as appropriateness. This argumentdoes not simply entail the replacement of 'culturalrules' for 'politeness rules', but advocates emphasison cultural awareness-raising. The author also citesexamples of published materials and textbookswhich adhere to the approach suggested in thisarticle.

97-317 Mohammed, Abdulmoneim Mahmoud (Sultan Quaboos U., Oman).Informal pedagogical grammar. IRAL (Heidelberg, Germany), 34, 4 (1996), 283-91.

There is a consensus among language teaching spe-cialists that the teaching of grammar helps languagelearners develop linguistic competence as part ofcommunicative competence. Drawing the learners'attention to linguistic patterns and providing themwith the underlying rules and principles can add to,conform or modify the rules which the learners dis-

cover by themselves through the natural process ofhypothesis formation and testing. It is suggested thatpedagogical grammar can hardly achieve this goalwhen it is based on metalinguistic terms and con-cepts (i.e. grammarians' jargon); and that such termsand concepts constitute an additional learning bur-den and remain as a separate body of knowledge that

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Language teachinghas nothing to do with the way people actuallyprocess language. Based on the learners' and theteachers' informal explanation of the rules underly-ing the production of the correct or incorrect inter-language forms, pedagogical grammar can be made

less formal by keeping the amount of metalinguisticterms, concepts and analysis to the minimum. Theauthor suggests giving grammatical explanations insuch a way as to approximate the learners' rule-discovery procedure as far as possible.

97-318 Musumeci, Diane (U. of Illinois/Urbana/Champaign). Language and linguisticsin the Italian curriculum: towards the integration of language study and the study oflanguage. Italica (Columbus, OH), 73, 4(1996), 493-507.

This paper addresses the problem of university-levellanguage students dropping out of language classesafter basic language instruction because of the con-centration on literature at higher levels, which thestudents do not see as a way of improving their lan-guage skills. The solution suggested is two-fold: (1)to introduce more content, especially linguistic, intothe basic language sequence; (2) to place moreemphasis on language development at higher levels.This fully integrated approach could be realised bythe introduction at the basic level of content-basedtuition in linguistics (e.g. minilectures) on aspects of

the language such as phonetics, morphology,lexis/semantics, sociolinguistics, etc., perhaps fol-lowed by a transitional year of content-based lan-guage tuition based on aspects of the culture of thesecond language, enabling the transfer from simplepersonal expression to academic expression. It isproposed that higher study (e.g. of literature) shouldalso continue to incorporate elements of languagestudy. While introducing linguistics at a higher levelmight attract more students, it is suggested that thiswould only teach them about the language, notdevelop language skills.

97-319 Neil, Peter S. (Queen's U. of Belfast). German in the classroom: what thepupils think. Language Learning Journal (Rugby), 13 (1996), 10-15.

This paper reports the initial findings of a detailedstudy of 10 secondary grammar school classes inNorthern Ireland, focusing on pupils' perceptions ofthe use of the target language and their preferencesfor German or English as the language for differentareas of their German course. The questionnaireand interview data showed that pupils much pre-ferred teacher-talk in German to video- or audio-

input because it allowed for interaction, and theyconsidered participation in lessons by speaking asessential. The study also showed them to be awareof the extent to which German was used and toseem generally satisfied with this. Most pupils feltthey understood most though not all of what theirteachers said, with only 5% indicating very littlecomprehension.

97-320 Pearson, Jennifer (Dublin City U.). Electronic texts and concordances in thetranslation classroom. Teanga (Dublin), 16 (1996), 85-95.

This article examines some of the ways in whichcorpora and concordancing tools can be used in thecontext of Language for Special Purposes teaching,with particular emphasis on the specialised transla-tion syllabus. The first section contains a profile ofundergraduate and postgraduate translation studentsat Dublin City University. Normal translation prac-tice is described, together with some of the problems

encountered with a conventional dictionary-basedapproach. The article goes on to describe the typesof electronic sources and software tools available tothe students and ways in which they might be use-fully exploited. It is suggested that a corpus-basedapproach to translation is a useful, perhaps even anessential, complement to more conventionalapproaches.

97-321 Plitsch, Axel (Schule, Wulfrath). Music & Song = Authentic listening in thelanguage classroom. Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch (Stuttgart, Germany) 1(1997), 4-13.

This paper considers the use of pop music in foreignlanguage (FL) teaching. Practical lesson-plans are

presented and a brief lexicon of music styles is pro-vided together with a list of media resources (books,

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Language learning and teachingCDs and Internet databases). Despite the confusingvariety of musical directions acting upon youthtoday, the author believes that 'authentic listening'can sharpen listening skills and extend abilities inspeech and writing. In using pop songs teachersshould encourage purposeful listening throughsharply focused pre-listening, while-listening andpost-listening activities. It is envisaged that popmusic in secondary school FL learning move fromfirst-year practice in elementary listening skills via a

more intensive appreciation of content in years 2and 3 towards full-scale critical analysis in the finalyears. The difficulty of selecting songs for teenagerswhere extreme likes/dislikes and youth culturegroup dynamics operate is touched upon, the authorrecommending consultation with pupils and goodknowledge of the music scene as partial solutions.Finally a variety of approaches to finding pop mater-ial is outh'ned.

97-322 Rheaume, Martine (U. of Ottawa). L'enseignement de la grammaire enimmersion francaise au secondaire: les premieres lignes d'un curriculum communicatifbase sur les besoins des apprenants.es. [Grammar teaching in French immersionsecondary classes: the first stages of a needs-based communicative curriculum.] TheCanadian Modern Language Review (Toronto, Ont), 53, 2 (1997), 403-21.

Although the so-called 'communicative approach' iswell-known in second-language education, it is stillcommon practice to teach grammar in Frenchimmersion classes using a traditional approach. Thispaper calls for communicative grammar teachingwhich will take account of the mental processes thatoccur in native speakers when they interact, andwhich will also be a more adequate preparation forstudents' needs in the highly competitive society of

the future. The author argues that major changes ineducation also demand a new vision of teaching inthe context of multicultural and heterogeneousclasses. It is therefore argued that grammar teachingmust be reconceptualised in terms of individuallearners' needs, both their immediate and long-termemployment needs, as well as their psychological anddevelopmental needs.

97-323 Salaberry, M. Rafael (Cornell U.). The role of input and output practice insecond language acquisition. The Canadian Modern Language Review (Toronto, Ont.)53, 2 (1997), 422-51.

The present study extends previous research on therelative effects of two types of instruction (i.e. inputprocessing and output processing) on the use ofSpanish clitic pronouns. Thirty-three universityclassroom learners of Spanish (third semester) wereassigned to one of three instructional treatments:input practice, output practice, and no practice.Subjects performed three tasks: a comprehensiontest, a production test, and a written narrative of a 1-

minute silent video. The results of a repeated mea-sures ANOVA show that both experimental groups(input processing and output processing) signifi-cantly improved their scores compared to the con-trol group on the comprehension test. The results ofthe production and narration task were not affectedby experimental instruction. These findings aretaken to contradict previous studies supporting thepedagogical value of input processing.

97-324 Senior, Rosemary (Curtin U., Australia). Transforming language classes intobonded groups. ELT Journal (Oxford), 51,1 (1997), 3-11.

To date little attention has been paid to groupprocesses in language classes. Applied linguisticsresearchers have preferred to examine classroominteraction from a pedagogic perspective, despiteexhortations by various language teaching experts toexamine social aspects as well. A recent study by the

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author revealed that experienced language teachersperceive that it is important to develop and maintaina positive whole-group feeling among their students.Such teachers appear to have developed a range ofpersonal behaviours which, when examined from asocial psychological perspective, reveal an intuitive

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Language teaching

knowledge of how to foster and maintain a spirit ofcohesion in their classes. In this paper the findings ofthe study are described, and relevant areas in thefield of social psychology identified. Eight facets of groupsthe group development process in language classes

are then discussed, and teachers are presented with anumber of tactics which can be used to encouragethe transformation of their classes into cohesive

97-325 Siegel, Jeff (U. of New England, Australia). Using a pidgin language in formaleducation: help or hindrance? Applied Linguistics (Oxford), 18, 1 (1997), 86-100.

Pidgin and Creole languages are rarely used in formaleducation because of three arguments: (1) they aredegenerate languages; (2) it is a waste of time to use apidgin or Creole when the standard language is thekey to success in education and employment; and (3)the use of a pidgin or creole will interfere with stu-dents' subsequent acquisition of the standard lan-guage. Linguistics can easily refute the first twoarguments, but not the third, because of the specialcircumstances when a pidgin or creole is the firstlanguage and its lexifier language is the second. This

article presents the results of research which exam-ines the claims of the third argument. This researchis part of an evaluation of a pre-school programmein Papua New Guinea which uses Tok Pisin(Melanesian Pidgin English) as the medium ofinstruction and initial literacy for students who thengo on to an English-medium community school.The results show that initial instruction in Tok Pisinis actually more of a help than a hindrance to learn-ing English and other subjects.

97-326 Stables, Andrew (U. of Bath) and Stables, Sian (U. of Wales, Swansea).Modern languages at A-level: the danger of curricular discontinuity. Language LearningJournal (Rugby), 14 (1996), 50-2.

This paper reports a study of gender differences instudents' attitudes at A(dvanced)-level in a UK ter-tiary college. The questionnaire study dealt withstudents' perceptions of how they chose their A-level subjects and of these subjects a few weeks intothe course. The findings indicated a significantlylower level of confidence among female students,even though in earlier national examinations theirperformance was higher than that of male students.Female students' lack of confidence led them to seekadvice less, and to be less satisfied with advice given,

as well as to be more likely to feel that they neededadvice; they were also more likely to complain aboutthe difficulty of the subject, especially of French.Relative disillusion quickly set in as their A-levelcourse got under way, reflecting the substantial gapbetween this and the preceding GCSE (GeneralCertificate of Secondary Education) course they hadcompleted. The findings point strongly to what theauthors term 'curricular discontinuity' betweenGCSE and A-level, and they put forward some sug-gestions for improved practice.

97-327 Stenson, Nancy (U. of Minnesota). Video in the Irish language classroom.Teanga (Dublin), 16(1996), 107-19.

Teachers and learners of less commonly taught lan-guages are well aware that language acquisition canbe hampered by a lack of adequate learning materialscompared with that available for more commonlytaught languages. Celtic languages are a case inpoint, where teachers often have to produce theirown exercises and aids to teaching, and piecetogether usable samples of authentic language fromvarious sources. One teaching aid which can help toserve these needs is videotape; and this paper reportsand illustrates recent efforts to incorporate video-based exercises into a first-year university-level Irish

class, using a variety of video sources. Examples arepresented and discussed, showing how their use hashelped to bring the language alive in class and toprovide a synthesis of grammar and vocabulary fromthe textbook in ways that make them more mean-ingful and memorable for the learners. It is claimedthat vocabulary and structures learned and used inthese activities tend to be better retained than thoseintroduced through the textbook and traditionaldrillwork alone, and to resurface in spontaneous lan-guage use with a higher degree of accuracy.

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Language learning and teaching97-328 Teichert, Herman U. (Western Michigan U.). A comparative study using illus-trations, brainstorming, and questions as advance organisers in intermediate collegeGerman conversation classes. The Modern Language Journal (Madison, Wl), 80, 4(1996), 509-17.

This research compared student performance in lis-tening comprehension when three advance organis-ers plus video were used as opposed to when neitheradvance organisers nor video- and audiotapes wereused. The participants were 50 English-speakingcollege students enrolled in three sections of inter-mediate German conversation. All three sectionsused print materials as the primary source for con-versation topics, small group activities, and vocabu-lary development. Students in the experimental

group used illustrations, brain-storming, and ques-tions as advance organisers, plus audio- and video-tapes to gain access to the topic and to interact witheach other. Findings indicated that students in theexperimental group developed superior listeningskills. These results may be interpreted as evidencethat multiple advance organisers plus audio andvideo can enhance listening comprehension at theintermediate level of German.

97-329 Tucker, G. Richard and others (Carnegie Mellon U.). Documenting growth ina Japanese FLES program. Foreign Language Annals (New York), 29,4 (1996), 539-50.

This paper describes the implementation and evalua-tion of the second year of a three-year pilot projectto teach Japanese to all students in grades Kinder-garten) to 5 at a Pittsburgh elementary school. Aftera review of findings for year one, and a descriptionof year two of the programme, the paper presentsquantitative and qualitative evidence of the profi-ciency in Japanese of 194 children, and also reportson the reliability of the quantitative measures used toassess these abilities. Quantitative evidence from testsof Japanese vocabulary, together with qualitativedata from selected oral interviews and the teacher's

assessment of language development, confirmed thatsubjects had made considerable progress in develop-ing proficiency in Japanese from year one, particu-larly in their receptive skills. Furthermore, gainswere not limited to children in the upper grades ofthe elementary school. An interview with theteacher also revealed her satisfaction with studentprogress and her own teaching ability, althoughdoubts were expressed about the long-term successof a programme which is somewhat isolated fromthe main programme of the school.

97-330 Tudor, A. P. (U. of Hull). An experiment in student peer assessment. CahiersAFLS (Cambridge), 3, 1 (1997), 13-22.

The author describes a limited exercise in under-graduate peer-correction involving the marking of a300-word French language essay which studentswere asked to grade and comment on, with refer-ence to a 50/50 split between language elements andsubject matter content. The steps in the experimentare outlined: particular emphasis is given to theimportance of explaining the practicalities and ratio-nale to the students at the outset and the need for thetarget assignments to be anonymous, as well as fortutor-checking and moderation. Students were pre-

pared for the task by a preliminary marking exerciseto familiarise them with how to comment on nega-tive and positive points and to encourage them toadduce key marking criteria. The author feels thatthe students ultimately showed remarkable accuracyin placing essays in order of merit in in their scoring.It is concluded that the assignment allowed studentsto stand back from their work and see things fromthe 'tutor's point of view', and to experience a newpedagogical and evaluative methodology.

97-331 Ulichny, Polly (Boston Coll.). Performed conversations in an ESL classroom.TESOL Quarterly (Alexandria, VA), 30, 4 (1996), 739-64.

Second language (L2) classroom learners normally activities requiring the selection of language optionsexpect lessons to give them both language practiceand information about language usage. L2 teacherscan respond to this implicit request by organisinginstruction that provides (a) authentic language

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and the negotiation of meaning among participants,as well as (b) explicit information about formal fea-tures of the language. This article argues that the wayteachers meet their goals for communication and

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Language learninginstruction can best be examined in process-orientedstudies of classroom discourse. A segment of class-room interaction is microanalysed to reveal a struc-ture of classroom interaction that combines the goalsof communication and instruction. In addition, thecomprehensive analysis reveals insights into theteacher's thinking as she deals with the instructional

constraints produced by a class of intermediate stu-dents who do not share a common language back-ground. The article concludes with an evaluation ofthe effectiveness of this type of interaction for lan-guage learners. It also recommends engaging teach-ers in micro-analysis in order to improvepedagogical practices in L2 classrooms.

97-332 Vespoor, Marjolijn and Winitz, Harris (U. of Missouri). Assessment of thelexical-input approach for intermediate language learners. IRAL (Heidelberg, Germany),35,1 (1997), 61-75.

The effectiveness of lexical-field instruction wasassessed for intermediate learners of English enrolledin a 15-week university English as a second languageprogramme. In the first investigation, students wereassigned to the language laboratory to read and listento accompanying cassettes of 13 books, each ofwhich was designed to teach a common lexical field,such as walking, business, transportation, and enter-tainment. Students in the control group attendedEnglish grammar, reading, and speaking classes, butdid not take the lexical-field books. Students in the

lexical-field group showed greater language achieve-ment on the Michigan Battery Test. In the secondinvestigation, two groups of students took the lexi-cal-field books, but one group was assigned also toEnglish courses in speaking or grammar. There wasno significant difference in the language achieve-ment of the two groups as measured by the sametest. These results suggest that lexical-field instruc-tion is an effective procedure for teaching generallanguage knowledge through the meaning system.

97-333 Watts, Noel (Massey U., New Zealand). A learner-based design model forinteractive multimedia language learning packages. System (Oxford), 25,1 (1997), 1-8.

In this article an examination is made of the designfeatures of interactive multimedia packages for lan-guage learning. Different approaches may beemployed in the design of interactive multimediapackages. Design models which follow technology-driven approaches are dominated by hardware con-siderations. Learner-based design models, however,focus on the needs of users and seek to utilise to themaximum the technological resources available forlearning purposes. This leads to the discussion of

possible components of a design model for interac-tive multimedia programs appropriate to up-to-datelanguage learning requirements. Each of these com-ponents is examined and the implications for pro-gram design are highlighted. The conclusionadvanced is that the potential of interactive multi-media for language learning is high but that to realisethis potential designers will need to break with thetechnology-driven models of the past and develop amore learner-based orientation.

Language learning97-334 Amer, Aly A. (Sultan Qaboos U., Oman). The effect of the teacher's readingaloud on the reading comprehension of EFL students. ELT Journal (Oxford), 51, 1 (1997),43-7.

Although reading aloud receives considerableemphasis in English as a first language, it is tradition-ally discouraged by English as a foreign language(EFL) teachers and methodology specialists. Thisarticle suggests that reading aloud is particularlyimportant for EFL learners at the early stage of learn-ing. Beginning readers tend to read word by word.Reading aloud helps them read larger semantic unitsrather than focusing on graphic cues. The purpose ofthis study was to investigate the effect of theteacher's reading aloud on the reading comprehen-

sion of EFL students reading a story. 75 students par-ticipated in the study. The experimental group had astory read aloud to them by the teacher, whereas thecontrol group read the story silently. Two dependentmeasures were used: a multiple-choice test and astory frame test. Results showed that the experimen-tal group outperformed the control group on bothmeasures. This indicated that reading aloud by theteacher may have a significant positive effect onlearners' reading comprehension.

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