Abrate, J.  (1993).  French cuisine in the classroom: Using culture to enhance language proficiency.  Foreign Language Annals, 26(1), 31-37.

•  Discusses use of cuisine to further cultural knowledge of TL countries.  Outlines steps of an effective lesson using cuisine. French cuisine offers a valuable resource for creating culture-based contexts for language use in the classroom. Suggestions and ideas are presented for incorporating food-related activities in the French class.

•  Suggests that the "meta-language" used in grammar explanations hinders rather than helps.  Sorts textbooks into three categories that reflect three models of SLA:  no access, direct access, and indirect access. It is shown that many students' errors in second-language learning are based on conclusions that they are drawing from faulty and incomplete information in textbooks, whereas other "errors" are the result of normal language learning strategies and occur in systematic patterns.

•  Discusses the use and efficacy of nonverbal communication in the FL classroom.

• Discusses the ethnographic interview as a strategy in foreign language teacher development. Excerpts from preservice teachers' reports on an ethnographic interview assignment provide evidence that the process of conducting the interview facilitates the development of the requisite understanding and awareness.

• Argues for content-based foreign language instruction as a means for putting language in context and making it meaningful to learners.  Describes three programs in progress.

•  Discusses and critiques five methods of teaching pronunciation.  Argues for using fluency squares as an alternative method of teaching pronunciation, and gives detailed description of this method and the activities involved in its implementation.

•  Argues that acquisition of English-as-a-Second-Language research must take into account social context and power relations in Order to explain language learning processes. Uses interview data and writing samples to demonstrate how a student in South Africa is influenced in his written discourse in English by his power relations and experience as a political prisoner.

•  Considers language learning from a Vygotskian perspective. Argues that learner-centered classroom provides practice and negotiation of meaning for students.

• Presents a five-step process to prepare students for reading and writing exercises, including discussing purpose, personal response, and presentation of new vocabulary.

•  Discusses instructional techniques for incorporating technology in the FL classroom.  Advocates use of technology to bring “real” target language into the class.

•  Discusses anxiety produced by listening comprehension exams and proposes “visualization” technique as a solution. Investigated a means for improving listening comprehension through the use of visualization. Performance on a listening comprehension test was significantly better among students who had used the visualization strategies

Argues that knowledge of the historical background of a language can be profitably integrated into its teaching at the elementary and intermediate levels.  The use of diachronic linguistics is illustrated in the teaching of first-year college French, with specific applications based on pronunciation, vocabulary, morphology, and syntax.

• Argues for computer competence and use of foreign language elements in technological environment:  e-mail, faxes, on-line catalogues, etc.

• Argues for focusing on what students can do with language rather than what they know about it.  Describes a five step process: “setting the stage;” “providing input;” “guided practice;” “extension practice;” and “testing.”  A five-day lesson plan on the topic of clothing is demonstrated.  This process integrates grammar, culture, and vocabulary in a student-centered classroom.

• Presents results of a study of 12 first year college texts that provide little to no cultural or real world information.  Argues for integration of culture, real world information, teaching of language in context.

•  Discusses common problems that prevent student learning in the classroom (e.g., physical disabilities, poor work habits, attitude) and offers suggestions to ameliorate these problems.

• Discusses a four-skill approach with a cultural component as a means to success for FL students.  Students consistently performed well on the state Spanish exam, and the authors attributed this to their approach to FL teaching, which they outline in the article. Classroom activities and materials for developing Spanish language skills are described. The exercises focus on listening comprehension, speaking, word recognition, vocabulary learning through reading, and grammar skills that prepare students for the National Spanish Examination and other language experiences.

• Examined whether readers in a third-semester Spanish course--reading the second language on a computer screen--accessed glossed vocabulary more frequently when the glosses were written in their first language or their second language.

• Discusses a technique using picture/verb cards designed to encourage creative thinking and to motivate conversation in the classroom.

• Advocates use of humor to enhance FLL, establish rapport, and increase SLA and retention.  Humor arising from clashes b/w cultures can be used as a learning device.  At simplest level, use verbal humor.  Later on, incorporate written and visual humor.  Good sources of humor can be found in children's magazines.

• Suggests several activities for contextualized vocabulary instruction and learning.

• Uses idea of “languages across the curriculum” to pinpoint addressing the Connections Standard.  Advocates making connections w/colleagues in other disciplines and combining lessons. Focuses on the connections goal of the national standards for foreign language learning--that is, on the integration of interdisciplinary content and language skills. Proposes a developmental model for content-oriented instruction that moves students from familiar to unfamiliar academic and cultural content while taking into account their language level at each stage.

•  Suggests using simulation to immerse students in the culture when in-country experiences are not feasible.  Discusses class activities that create artificial environments to facilitate students' learning about the cultural life of the country whose language they are studying, in this case, Spanish. Such activities include taking pictures of fictional wedding parties, using current Mexican newspapers to shop for the bride and groom, and attendance at the baptism of the couple's future child.

• Claims that pseudo-communicative activities in the classroom allow students to survive in that "mini-society" but fail to develop communicative competence on a real level.  Advocates freedom of expression on part of students.

• Using sociocultural theory as a conceptual framework, this study examined selected features of student discourse of three pairs of third-semester

learners of Spanish at the university level. Specifically the study investigated how these selected features, identified in an earlier research project, developed during opportunities to engage in five different but similar jigsaw tasks. Advocates use of group work for a variety of reasons born out by the study.

• Introduces L2 researcher to relevant and current L1 text comprehension issues and theories.

•  Reports a study that investigated ethnocentrism in foreign language education. The study utilized a quasiexperimental intact group design where

nine sections of first-semester German students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: one that stressed German and American cultural similarities, one that stressed German and American differences, and a control group.Advocates emphasizing cultural similarities rather than differences to reduce ethnocentrism in the classroom.

• Avers that language acquisition is influenced by individual personality types.  Discusses research study of Indonesian students learning English as a foreign language.  Uses Myers-Briggs personality types as variables; concentrates on sensing vs. intuition, thinking vs. feeling, and judging vs. perceiving. Discusses gender differences, extroversion and introversion. Students were almost evenly divided between extroverts and introverts with a distribution of types similar to those of English-as-a-Second-Language students.

• Distinguishes two approaches to teaching speaking skills: (1) a "direct approach" in which new linguistic information is practiced explicitly; (2) and an "indirect approach", involving creating situations that lead learners to acquire communicative skills. Argues that a significant shift is occurring in the second approach and raises questions regarding communicative language teaching. Critiques CLT as a sole method for language instruction and argues that grammatical competence falls short here.  Advocates an eclectic approach to methodology in FL instruction.

• Advocates TPR as method to involve all students and allow them to demonstrate their ability in the TL.

• Describes a study that is investigating the teaching of learning strategies to high school and college students enrolled in beginning level Japanese classes and high school students in beginning level Russian and Spanish classes. Learning strategy instructional materials correlated to each curriculum were implemented by participating teachers, and the effect of the instruction on students was analyzed. Advocates learning strategy instruction as a method of improving TL competence and performance.  Study shows that strategies have a major effect on performance in school.

• Describes a learner-centered classroom where Daedalus software and computers are used to enhance FL learning.  Extols the benefits of CAI in the FL classroom. Notes that second language teachers can benefit from advances made in Writing-Across-the-Curriculum programs and that incorporating writing in all disciplines develops critical-thinking skills.

• This study applied social psychological constructs to examine the linguistic attitudes and motivations of 301 Hungarian high school students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Factor and correlational analyses of the results of a survey questionnaire revealed that xenophilic, sociocultural, instrumental, and media-use reasons were most strongly endorsed by the students.

• Discusses effects of gender stereotyping and offers suggestions on how to avoid it in the FL classroom.  Focuses on the predicament of the gifted but forgotten woman in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom. The article emphasizes that the ESL teacher can use the class to provide opportunities for students to discuss their feelings, to understand the students' nonverbal language, and to serve as a role model by avoiding the use of sexist and racist language.A bibliography on sexism and language is included.

• Discusses ways of using second language acquisition (SLA) research in teaching, and argues that the correct use of SLA research should meet a set of  overlapping requirements. The requirements are then applied to three sample areas of research: the question of age-effects in second language learning, the acquisition of phonology, and the acquisition of the writing system.

• Proposes use of L2 learner models as well as native speakers models.  Discusses interlanguage.

•  Argues that language teaching would benefit by paying attention to the second language (L2) rather than concentrating primarily on the native speakers. Suggests ways that language teaching can apply an L2-user model and exploit the students' first language.

• Argues for the re-examination of the time-honored view that the first language (L1) should be avoided in the classroom by teachers and students. Examines possible justifications for use of the first language, outlines teaching methods that actively employ the L1, and describes some of the different ways that the L1 may be used positively by teachers and students.

• Advocates interactive relationship between learner and teacher to facilitate cooperation and understanding in L2 classroom.  Argues for the inclusion of adult second-language (L2) learners in teacher education programs. The article offers reasons why they should be included, suggests means of tapping their expertise, and describes four ways to bring learners and student teachers together in mutually beneficial ways in their teacher education program.

• Discusses factors that influence teaching style:  how teachers were taught; how teachers were trained and this content; teacher’s colleagues and administration; exposure to new ideas; materials available; type of students; personal views of learners. Discussion of important influences on language teachers and their teaching focuses on the social context of the school and on negative and positive influences of administration. Administrative support is suggested as an important means of instructional improvement. Criticisms of foreign language teacher education are examined, and use of critical applied linguistics is also suggested to help solve teaching problems.

• Literature on research by language teachers is reviewed, and the relationship between teachers and research productivity is discussed, focusing on social aspects. Cultures of research in elementary/secondary and higher education are compared, traditional explanations of problems in the teacher/research relationship examined, and effects of working conditions considered. A series of questions is posed for further study.

• Reports on the introduction of an action research component into an existing graduate foreign language teaching methodology course for beginning foreign language teachers (graduate teaching assistants and graduate students) at the college level. Discusses the implementation, benefits, and caveats of such a project, illustrated with samples of feedback.

• Emphasizes meaningful communication as main goal in FL teaching at elementary level.  Advocates constant use of TL by teacher, while allowing for L1 interaction b/w classmates and w/teacher if need be.  This reduces stress and frustration that hamper LL.  Listening comprehension seen as paramount.  Discusses various activities and strategies for fostering communication through use of visuals, body language, concrete examples, eye contact, and rituals and routines.

• Argues for the inclusion of metaphorical reasoning in the FL curriculum as a way to approximate NS language.  Suggests that most students learn language that is too formal and bookish and thus cannot achieve NS ability. This article suggests that the notion of "conceptual fluency," which has been derived from the current research on the role of metaphor in language and cognition, can be used to draft a teaching curriculum around the notion that metaphor is the organizing principle of common discourse.

• Briefly reviews the way grammar has been taught over the last 30 years and explores a successful student-centered method of grammar instruction in second-language classes that can aid retention. Author argues for student-centered grammar approach based on research outcomes that show positive results from student-centered learning environments.  Offers a six-step lesson plan to accomplish this method.

• Presents a proposal for training pre- and inservice teachers in the use of group work based on the principles of action research. Outlines some issues in the design and implementation of these activities and presents suggestions for the post-observation remodeling of activities within a task- and content-based framework for foreign language instruction.

• The efficiency of oral error correction was investigated as a function of 35 Dutch-speaking high school seniors' individual characteristics of aptitude, motivation, anxiety, and previous achievement. Results were mixed but generally suggest that error correction does not lead to across-the-board improvement of achievement. While some error correction may have positive effects, other manifestations of same may prove to be negative in nature.  One major problem of error correction studies is that the error correction is not consistent.

• Describes the first semester writing curriculum of a second-year university German course based on the proficiency guidelines of the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages. Notes that a traditional review grammar gives students practice with words and sentences while films provide a context for creative writing.

• Examines content-based instruction as a possible strategy for easing students' transition from beginning to advanced foreign language courses, as well as for developing students' interest in pursuing language study beyond required courses. Content-based instruction is reviewed, four common models are outlined and compared, and research findings on content-based models are examined.

• Discusses a technique to enhance creative writing in the TL while reinforcing organizational and interpretative skills. The students are asked to pick five unrelated sentences from the textbook and then weave them into a one-page story. Six sample stories are provided.

• Advocates whole language approach to foreign language learning.  Avers that whole language is making meaning, not finding meaning.

• Outlines empirical studies of the effects of "book floods" on elementary school students' acquisition of a second language, indicating that exposure to an extensive range of high-interest illustrated story books encourages children to read and learn the target language more quickly, as well as develop positive attitudes toward books. Discusses ways of using the illustrated text to enhance FLL.

• Describes a three-year partnership between a research university and a local elementary school, involving weekly FLES Spanish lessons and a FLES methods course for the preservice teachers. A university-elementary school partnership created a K-5 Spanish program staffed by elementary education majors with bilingual or English-as-a-Second-Language education endorsements. A central component is the FLES methods course for preparing college students to teach. A theoretical model provides the basis for integrating the course's two components: the FLES seminar and the teaching practicum.

• Discusses different students’ learning styles and the teaching methods that they prefer.  Argues for variety of teaching methods in each lesson to accommodate all students’ learning styles and maintain interest.

• Discusses activity of beginning each day's class with a "news flash" presented by a student "reporter."

• Uses metaphors of "tourist" and "explorer" to illuminate the distinction between acquiring linguistic forms and cultural facts on the one hand and using a second language to construct an understanding of another social reality on the other.  E-mail messages of English and German students are used to illustrate this point. Advocates insightful questioning to get at the heart of the cultural issue.

• Some 147 teaching assistants responded to the Survey of First Year Graduate Teaching Assistants in French, part of which focused on handling typical student questions on grammar. Analysis suggests that TAs do not conceptualize language according to the model of communicative competence proposed by Canale and SwainAdvocates higher grammatical competence for graduate TA's in French.  Suggests more courses to improve sociolinguistic competence.

• Examination of the cultural content in grammar exercises in recent college-level Spanish textbooks suggests a trend toward integration of cultural content with grammar, in a accordance with recent research on form-based practice within a communicative context. Teachers can supplement their texts' offerings by creating form-focused activities with cultural content and by expanding cultural activities with grammar practice.

• Argues that coordinated language-learning sequences provide continuity for learners and clearer understandings about the interrelationships of curriculum, instruction, outcomes, and evaluation for teachers. The article discusses articulation in French, German, and Spanish programs; vertical models of articulation; horizontal articulation; program goals; networking; and individual differences. Advocates articulation across levels and institutions of language instruction to avoid needless repetition of already taught and learned material.  Lack of such articulation results in failure in the sense that many students “start over” unnecessarily.  Time that could be spent on learning new language is wasted on repetition to the point of redundancy.

• Examines the relationship between anxiety and native-language skill and foreign-language aptitude measures among high school foreign-language learners using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). Findings suggest that skill in one's native language may affect aptitude for learning a foreign language and that the FLCAS may provide an early indicator of basic language problems.

• Describes and presents results of a study to determine the relationship between native language skills, anxiety, and foreign language competence.  Findings suggest that for some students, FL anxiety may be related to weaknesses in understanding and applying the systems of linguistic codes, in particular, phonological code.

• Bloom's taxonomy suggests that the learning process moves hierarchically, from simple to complex, in both the cognitive and affective domains. Spanish curriculum typically emphasizes the cognitive over the affective domain. However, the two domains appear to be interrelated. Spanish FLES programs could be enhanced by emphasizing the learning hierarchy of the affective domain. Argues for inclusion of affective domain in classroom FLES instruction in order to promote whole child development.

• Offers a number of strategies for cognate identification and use by students.

• Describes a lesson using a big book reading in the TL and discusses follow-up activities to be used in an elementary school classroom.Although using children's literature as the core of an elementary school foreign language program can be time consuming and tedious, with sufficient preparation, it can become a meaningful and memorable experience for both teachers and students. .

• Reviews research findings of studies dealing with distance education programs, describes the results of a distance learning study (elementary school students learning Spanish), and identifies the questions to be addressed re distance learning in the future vis-à-vis FL education.

• Investigated the effect of first-language (L1) translations on males and females who are beginning French students emerged in a computer assisted language learning (CALL) lesson. Specifically, examined whether access to L1 translations affected performance differently on receptive vocabulary tests and whether there were differences in how much time they spent looking up translations.

• Aims to provide language teachers with an impetus to integrate resources available on the Internet into the foreign language classroom. To do so, the teacher must become acquainted with cyberspace culture; establish a hardware link to the Internet; become aware of the breadth, depth, and limitations of the Internet; and integrate these resources into the language classroom.

• A study investigated the effectiveness of communicative and noncommunicative class activities for English second-language instruction in relation to student perceptions of the degree to which those activities were enjoyable. Results indicate a positive correlation between enjoyableness and perceived effectiveness but do not show a causal relationship.

• Demonstrates how text editing programs can become the platform for a higher volume of student foreign language production, provide a greater variety of writing assignments in the second language, and make grading and writing management easier for language teachers.

• Discusses an approach to teaching about the environment in the Spanish classroom. The approach incorporates oral proficiency goals and is based on authentic materials that are accompanied by worksheets that include prereading exercises, small-group discussion activities and structured conversation and composition suggestions.

• Advocates renewed interest in teaching and learning French, and presents multifaceted approach to reestablishing this interest.

•  Suggests a low anxiety method for oral testing that allows students to perform at their maximum competence.

• Francophone learners of English as a foreign language performed metalingual and preference tasks requiring them to utilize second-language knowledge brought to mind under an aural priming activity or a written task. Results indicate important differences between recall with awareness and recall without awareness, which strongly suggests a positive role for "priming" via the written channel in foreign language learning.

• Suggests ways to integrate films into classroom activities, including pre-film activities that prepare the students for what they will see and what they should look for, questions that draw on the story line, and simple grammar exercises that reflect language used in the film.

• Advocates inclusion of special needs students in the regular foreign language classroom.  Illustrates how mainstreaming of these students can be successful with proper preparation and support.

• Investigates whether students learn culture embedded in a video-based language program. Beginning-level French students watched 10 videos as part of the curriculum. A pretest and posttest assessed long-term gains. Postvideo viewing tests measured short-term retention of culture, and a questionnaire analyzed students’ perceptions of how well they learned about the foreign culture

• Discusses advance organizers (AOs) and their role in student comprehension.  Study measured results using interrogative and declarative AOs;  the former were superior in aiding comprehension.

• Discusses an "experiment" to determine impact of video on learning cultural topics.  The experimental group watched a video and read a similar passage while the control group merely read the passage.  The experimental group scored 10% higher on a comprehension test of the cultural topic.  Author clarifies that use of video for comprehension and retention has not been experimentally tested in the true sense, but nevertheless provides compelling arguments for its usefulness.

• Reports results of a year-long study that looked at listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills of two groups:  textbook-instruction for one group and video-based instruction for another group. Significant differences found in listening comprehension for video-based group, but they also improved their writing skills.

• Argues that the Guided Induction presentation is superior to a deductive one for the teaching of certain grammatical structures to beginning foreign

language students. A study is presented that compared both approaches when applied to the learning of French grammatical structures by beginning level U.S. college students.Advocates inductive grammar presentations in contextualized setting.  Suggests that this is an active rather than a passive approach to grammar instruction and comprehension.

• Advocates study and understanding of L1 cultural priorities as a segue into L2 culture study.  Proposes activities of comparison and contrast, role playing, and critical thinking tasks to aid students formulate objective ideas about other cultures rather than mere stereotypes.

• ACTFL keynote address by Dr. William Hopkins:  delineates rationale for increased attention to foreign language study in the United States.  Gives numerous examples of the benefit of second language knowledge in the U.S.  Calls for renewed emphasis on learning FLs in this country.

• Discusses use of TPR to facilitate verb usage and conjugation.  Suggests a well-planned question and choral response session based upon question/answer sequence for help in conjugation.

• Study examines whether and to what extent significant differences exist between learners of different L2s with respect to range of motivational or motivation-related factors and whether the factor time has any significant effect in this.

• Two experiments were conducted to assess relative utility of models and recasts in second-language (L2)Japanese and Spanish. Using pretest, posttest, control group design, each study provided evidence of adults' ability to learn from implicit negative feedback; in one case, support for notion that reactive implicit negative feedback can be more effective than preemptive positive input in achieving short-term improvements on previously unknown L2 structure.

• Advocates diminishing the focus on grammar and increasing attention to communicative situations using the TL.  Suggests using local community resources to illustrate need and opportunity for TL use.  Example given is an excursion to a local market where students negotiate with the Spanish-speaking owner.

• Avers that conceptual knowledge or theory can provide a guide to novice teachers but only if they understand that knowledge and are able to apply it in a social, cultural, economic, and educational context.  Advocates Professional Development schools where novice teachers can receive better preparation for the authentic teaching environment.

• Discusses "keyword" method for vocabulary learning (akin to mnemonics).  This approach uses both L1 and TL for instruction, and it combines use of key words and imagery.  Example:  pato/duck -> visualize a duck sitting in a pot.  Authors claims students forget L1 keyword association after a while but not the new vocabulary word.

• Sees reading and writing as similar cognitive processes.  Breaks down reading and writing assignments into steps, thus converting these skills into processes.  Describes activities to facilitate student discussion of ideas and readings.

• Argues for a topical approach to grammar presentation.  Also advocates use of group work and authentic materials.  One example:  in advanced classes, students read mini-dramas and are asked to complete them, demonstrating that they understand the cultural misunderstanding presented therein.  This helps in mastering cultural differences and aids in writing improvement.

• Discusses results of a course that used children’s literature and film to explore language and cultural differences.  Two groups of students (one French, one American) communicated throughout the course using these media as groundwork for cross-cultural communication.

• The Standards for Foreign Language Learning present a definition of language teaching that includes the sociolinguistic and cultural aspects of language. The article analyzes the concept of communicative competence as used by sociolinguists and anthropologists and examines some of the components of communication (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational) and their relationship to the Standards.

• Incidental vocabulary learning from context and 2 factors that might influence it, access to a dictionary and verbal ability, were examined among 112 second-year university students. Results indicate that subjects learned more words while reading for meaning, but high verbal ability students and those using  dictionary learn more.

• Describes how the Spanish department at Central Michigan University began an experimental program in an attempt to address the surging Spanish enrollments. The description of the program includes quantitative and qualitative assessments that may serve as a model for other undergraduate programs of  similar size. Presents an innovative solution to the problem of increasing number of students enrolled in college Spanish and the problem of lack of resources and funding for additional sections to accommodate these students.

• Reviews research demonstrating that reading texts with a particular perspective facilitates comprehension and increases reader interest. Suggests approaches to the teaching of texts that provide learners with purpose, including student-generated text collections, communicative tasks with reading components and interest tasks. Proposes purposeful and meaningful reading exercises as a way to gain communicative competence in the TL.

• Addresses use of the World Wide Web in the foreign language classroom. Introduces methodological considerations for effective implementation, discusses predidacticized material available on the Web, provides practical examples of applications that focus on enhancing communicative proficiency, and presents activities for practicing grammar items in a contextualized manner.

• Argues that applied linguistics, as the interdisciplinary field that mediates between the theory and practice of language acquisition and use, is the overarching field that includes second language acquisition (SLA) and SLA-related domains of research.

• Presents a review of selected influential works in Spanish applied linguistics in the twentieth century, with an accompanying bibliography. The research is divided into four eras, which are defined by "paradigm shifts" that occur when significant changes are perceived in the following areas: psychological/second language acquisition theories, linguistic theories, themes treated, types of studies carried out, and the origin of the data.

• Describes a study of adults and children in five Hispanic communities.  All Ss were native Spanish speakers.  Divides speaker categories into "steady state" and "initial state" speakers and gives the nod to the latter in terms of familiarity with NL grammar.

• Discusses study that sought to compare effects of English language  (L1) brainstorming activities with similar activities conducted in French (L2) vis-à-vis coherence of compositions in college level intermediate French.

• Emphasizes that language taught in a meaningful context is readily acquired by second-language learners and suggests that stories from the oral tradition of any Spanish-speaking cultures are excellent sources of material for language in content. These stories may be used to supplement traditional textbooks and readers.

• From a Vygotskian perspective, discusses language symbols, mnemonics, and cooperative learning.

• Provides support for a theoretical orientation toward viewing dialog as both a means of communication and a cognitive tool. Data to support this position come from an analysis of language-related episodes isolated in the dialog of two grade 8 French immersion students as they carry out a jigsaw task.

• Posits the question:  "Why is it that all individuals with normal faculties successfully acquire their L1 but meet w/different degrees of success when they attempt to master a L2?"  Argues that many different factors affect SLA:  age, aptitude, social-psychological factors, attitude & motivation, personality, cognitive style, and learning strategies.  Discusses each factor and its possible impact on SLA.

• Argues against a linear attitude to language teaching and for a contextual approach, which enhances meaningful language learning.

• Discusses results of study w/15 university students as Ss, learning meanings of new FL words.  Focus was on importance of context use and extent to which Ss developed specific strategies for vocabulary learning.

• Suggests that students can learn much about the TL structure, culture, history, and general knowledge of the world by reading TL texts.  Reading and spelling skills can also be enhanced this way.

• Advocates content-based instruction (CBI) as an effective method of FL instruction.  Lists the tenets of CBI:  the subject matter is the core of the curriculum, authentic materials should be used, students use FL to learn and evaluate new material, content (topics, materials, and activities) appropriate to specific needs of students.

• Describes a team teaching program for first-year French and Spanish courses at the Plattsburgh State University of New York. Goals were to (1) facilitate pedagogical cooperation between college foreign language and literature faculty and local middle and high school students; (2) improve articulation between secondary and postsecondary foreign language curricula; and (3) maintain or strengthen the communicative skills of students, while increasing class size.

• A study investigated, within a cognitive attentional framework, whether amount (single/multiple) and type (teacher-centered/learner-centered) of exposure to the same morphological information had positive effects on first-semester adult learners' second language development of morphological forms, and whether there is any differential performance due to type of post-exposure task (recognition/production).

• Offers pedagogical method to teach the use of être as opposed to avoir; uses lists of opposing verbs to do this.

• Discusses an experimental teaching situation in a traditional class and a gifted one in the same elementary school.  Different teaching methods were employed in each class due to the difference in learning styles b/w the two groups (one tended to be more analytic).  Argues for presentation of FL at an early age, irrespective of intelligence factors or time constraints.  Motivation was a key factor in LL here.

• Presents and discusses results of a longitudinal study conducted on regular and intensive ESL classes at the elementary level in Quebec.  Argues for intensive programs with both form-focused and communicative instruction.

• Ways to use Spanish-language television (STV) for teaching Spanish are described, including management of STV at several classroom proficiency levels. It is concluded that authentic materials should be developed around the students' overall development as well as the textbook. Gives two examples of activities:  one using a Spanish TV game show and one using Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Speak Spanish.

• Discusses various FLES methodologies.  In particular, explains N.L.K.T.:  Native Language Kid Talk and use of Mario Brothers.

• Proposes integrating culture in the Spanish classroom via games.  Offers several cultural games that could be incorporated into lessons.

• Analyzes the narrative, descriptive, and evaluative structures of one person's two stories, drawn from oral proficiency interviews, about the same event told at the intermediate high and advanced levels on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) scale. The discourse analysis revealed that the second story builds upon the earlier version and surpasses it in length, detail, and other elements .Case study of “Kathy” and her ability to recount orally her adventures in Madrid.  Over time she progresses from Intermediate High to Advanced level.

• This study was designed to analyze the use of communication strategies, particularly circumlocution, by speakers at the intermediate high and advanced levels of oral proficiency in Spanish. Analysis of learner discourse found that advanced speakers, more than intermediate high speakers, rely on a range of second-language-based strategies that included, but was not limited to, circumlocution.

• Comparison of beginning French and German classes in terms of communicative activities and outcomes.  Suggests that a "sense of community" needs to be developed among students to effect true communication.  Students must care, be attentive to each other and the teacher, and activities must be meaningful and content-based.

• Attempts to determine empirically whether English-as-a-Foreign-Language students' understanding of culturally loaded words approximates that of native speakers of English, and how much English-proficiency level may account for the extent of this approximation. The study involved 125 EFL students from a university in China and 61 native-speaker students from an American university.

• Traces the historical bases, significant research, and instructional trends in Spanish language instruction over the last century.

• Argues that Firth and Wagner are justified in arguing that a broader, context-sensitive, participant-sensitive, generally sociolinguistic orientation might prove beneficial for second language acquisition research. Demonstrates a skepticism as to whether greater insights into second language learning will necessarily influence the process. Author takes issue w/posit that SLA research should be based on speaker and IL, rather than discourse between two speakers.  Long outlines objections to five points put forth by Firth and Wagner re SLA research.

• Addresses the role of college and university professors in foreign language teacher recruitment (K-12) and lobbies for increased involvement in recruitment efforts. Concludes with 22 reasons to be a foreign language teacher.

• Examined the roles of learning method, word frequency, and cognate status in the learning of 80 Italian words by 56 adult Dutch learners previously unfamiliar with Italian. Two learning methods were contrasted: word learning, where the Italian word was presented with its translation in Dutch, and picture learning, where it was presented with a picture depicting a referent.

• Summarizes an interactive computer-based reading program developed to enhance the linguistic proficiency of intermediate language students and increase their awareness of Francophone cultures. The article describes the program's glossing capabilities and its tracking device and summarizes the pilot research that preceded the program. Discusses pros and cons of computer-mediated reading of target language texts.  Computer programs exist that offer instant translation and grammar for TL texts.  Should these programs be made available to students and are they beneficial in terms of increased language learning?

• Discusses task-based learning theory and several experiments using task-based methods.  The authors argue that this methodology enhances listening comprehension, reduces anxiety (by virtue of group work), and develops communicative skills (necessary to complete the tasks).

• Describes an alternate view of language learning strategies that limits their application to those behaviors that are intentional and freely chosen. A model is presented that postulates that for strategies to be used, students must be aware of one or more appropriate strategies, have reason to use them, have no impediments to their use, and should experience rewards for using them. Discusses growth of study of language learning strategies.  Describes several different types of strategies, conscious and unconscious.  Argues for more specificity in strategy presentation and use.

• Advocates that language anxiety can play a significant causal role in creating individual differences in both language learning and communication. This paper studies the role of anxiety in the language learning process and concludes that the linguistic coding deficit hypothesis errs in assigning epiphenomenal status to language anxiety.Posits that anxiety can both enhance and inhibit performance of language learners.

• Examines perceived competence in a second language (L2) as a function of actual competence and language anxiety. Anglophone college students with varied competency in French completed scales of language anxiety and a modified version of the "can-do" test, which assessed their self-perceptions of competence on 26 French tasks. Findings indicate that L2 anxiety, perceived competence, and actual competence intercorrelated. Concludes that the erroneous results of the former may have deleterious effect on L2 production and cause more anxiety, thus inhibiting motivation and L2 learning.

• Examines second language students' perceptions of grammar instruction, with specific reference to writing skill. Discusses issues involved in defining a role for grammar study and presents excerpts from student essays and explanations of classroom lessons. Results indicate that the instruction provided helped to improve students' ability to use correct grammar forms for three of the four points analyzed.

• Types of questions that will stimulate student participation in French literature classes are discussed. After a summary of ineffective approaches, factors influencing development of effective questions are assessed: preparation, reformulation, and progression. Examples are included. Offers new techniques for utilizing literature in intermediate L2 classes and promoting student participation in class discussions of same.

• Details a project designed to incorporate multimedia systems into college French courses. A study was done to see if these technological advances improved the four language skills; no evidence of improvement was found.  Nevertheless, the Ss expressed unanimous approval and enthusiasm of the project. Authors cite cumbersome software development as a major drawback to implementation.

• The 15-year history of research and application in cooperative learning in primary and middle schools in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel is described. A specific application is discussed of some cooperative learning structures in a postsecondary foreign language classroom. Offers guidelines for a teacher when using cooperative learning in the FL classroom.  Also provides student reactions to cooperative learning activities.

• Discusses history of research in error correction.  The results appear to be ambiguous, although there is general agreement as to when errors should be corrected.  Errors should be corrected when they obstruct communication, impair future learning, or are made w/considerable frequency.  Teachers need to be sensitive to when and where error correction is made--its appropriateness.

• Examines several recent views on grammar, then revisits some of the perpetual problem areas in teaching grammar, such as the deductive-inductive debate, the use of the first- or second-language for grammatical presentations, and the explicit-implicit controversy. Advocates a communicative classroom w/constant TL use, contextualized activities, and integration of grammar.

• Advocates "physicalizing" language learning by use of puppets and performances a la le gran Guignol.  Suggests students take roles of characters in plays and perform the actions to get a deeper understanding of the text and culture.

• A detailed comparison of the National Association of Secondary School Principals "An Agenda for Excellence at the Middle Level" and literature on content-based foreign language instruction reveals significant similarities in the curricular and instructional goals endorsed for middle level learners. Argues for content-based instruction at middle school age.  Recommends inclusion of all four skill areas plus cultural exposure.

• Eighty-four students enrolled in German classes completed graded communication activities and oral proficiency interviews to examine whether grades motivate classroom performance. Data show that grading does not affect foreign language performance as measured by the OPI, the American Association of Teachers of German Achievement Test, and the final course grade. Disputes idea that grades for oral proficiency serve as motivation to improve performance.  Advocates hands-on experiences with lots of TL interaction.

• Discusses use of Suggestopedia techniques in the classroom for relaxation, tapping into subconscious resources to open the minds of FL and ESL students to learning the language in an unencumbered fashion.

• A six-month case study of 10 African-American middle school students in an inner-city school setting provided the data for this article. Contrary to previous studies on first-language second-language transfer, the study showed that the students L1 (African-American English) facilitated the learning of Arabic.  Suggests five effective strategies for use in the FL classroom.

• Describes an elementary immersion program in MA.  Focuses on how students' mode of communication during their first year in a French immersion program evolved from implicit to explicit, physical to verbal, and simple to complex. The linguistic and psychological reasons behind the program's success are discussed and benefits to the students are described. Discusses teaching strategies, staff selection, and goals of program.

• Discusses the need to incorporate form-focused activities into second-language communication instruction, and suggests pedagogical strategies for doing so. Provides examples of tasks that may help realize this goal. Examines relevant empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such tasks.

• Outlines class activities promoting free oral interaction for intermediate English-as-a-Second-Language students in Turkey. The article recommends an initial stage of individual preparation. Suggested materials include newspapers, short articles, poems and scenes from plays, all providing an authentic language medium. The teacher's function is to advise students of available resources. Many of the activities are interesting and can be adapted to the FL classroom, although few appear to evoke truly "spontaneous" speech on the part of students.

• Discusses a study done w/students of French watching a French film.  One group of subjects had preparation in terms of French cultural notions that would appear in the film;  the other group had no such advance organizers.  The first group had a much better understanding of certain points of the film and the humor in many of the scenes, due to the cultural background knowledge provided beforehand.

• Delineates four major themes that surfaced in diaries of preservice teachers:  preoccupation of novice teachers w/their own teaching experience, transfer of teaching methods used in the teacher's own L2 learning, unexpected discoveries about teaching, and continued frustrations with teaching.

• Suggests that because the new methodological emphasis in intermediate-level foreign-0language courses has shifted from translation-based learning, which utilized literary texts extensively, to communication-based learning, literature has been overlooked as a viable tool of instruction. Argues that this shift does not allow students to develop an appreciation of literature and misses an opportunity for students to participate in highly motivational activities. Advocates using literature as a springboard to communication skills.

• Discusses distinctions among these three strands of communication:cooperative learning, i.e., a particular set of classroom techniques fostering learner interdependence as a route to cognitive and social development; collaborative learning, which views learning as a construction of knowledge within a social context; and interaction, which refers to personal communication. Elaborates on each mode and underscores differences in light of FL learning.

• Summarizes a study of 107 high school students learning Japanese by satellite television.  Motivation was the best predictor of Japanese language achievement, but use of language learning strategies was also important.

• Several ways to extend the notion of second-language (L2) learning motivation are discussed. The motivational materials and techniques considered are well known in the fields of general, industrial, educational, and cognitive developmental psychology but have not been applied to the L2 field. Argues toward an expanded vision of L2 learning motivation.  The authors highlight four conditions that impede this learning and motivation.

•  Discusses different types of and purposes for portfolios.  Also suggests items to be included in portfolios.

• Discusses techniques to get students involved in creating with the language, including scrambling words and composing songs.

• Discusses rate of vocabulary development in bilingual children.  Presents results from a study that suggests bilingualism does not delay vocabulary acquisition in the long run.

• Discusses nature of interaction between NS and NNS and concludes that interaction helps both parties in communication.

• Discusses code switching and performance switching.  Suggests that some switching is subsconcious and due to one lexicon mechanism storing multiple languages, thus making it more difficult for the learner to access the “correct word” in the language they are currently speaking.

• Discusses issues of bilingualism and language planning in Puerto Rico.  Teaching of English is controversial due to “linguistic impoverishment” of nationals; resistance stems from  historical, political, socioeconomic, and pedagogical factors.  Lack of language policy planning is also a problem.

• Argues for the use of translation at basic levels of language learning and incorporation of more and more context as language abilities increase.

• Advocates inclusion of songs into the regular curriculum and not just during holidays or on special occasions.  Makes the point that often students can sing sounds that they cannot pronounce in regular speech, thus boosting their confidence.  Songs are a great source of lessons on grammar, culture, idiomatic expressions, vocabulary.  Also argues for an evaluation of material learned via songs.  Songs reduce anxiety, increase enthusiasm, provide an alternative to regular classroom activities.

• Addresses motivational and attitudinal factors and their impact on continuation of FL study beyond the second level in secondary schools of 2 different geographical locations.  Investigated French and Spanish classes via questionnaires.  Correlations b/w grade in FL class, grade level of student, and decision to continue or discontinue FL study.  Students starting FL study earlier were more likely to continue.  Suggests promoting FL study as means to proficiency rather than requirement or means to get into college.

• Encourages use of chatrooms for foreign language practice outside the classroom.

• Advocates LL integrated with content instruction, students engaging in problem-solving activities in cooperative learning contexts to foster higher order thinking, and use of activities that promote learning across the curriculum.  Strategies are suggested to help content area teachers better meet the needs of L2 learners.

• Suggests that teachers develop personal principles that guide them in their approach to teaching.  These principles are typically influenced by individual belief systems.  Some ways to identify these teacher rules or maxims are narratives, journal writing, discussion, and critical reflection.

• Discusses various models of articulation, K-12.  Offers several strategies for achieving success in articulation between public school levels.

• Contends that FL learners will produce a higher level of language if they are aware of extralinguistic variables (speaker scripts and world knowledge) in the texts they study.

• Advocates consideration of story structure as a factor in choosing literary texts.

• Outlines a Fulbright-funded summer program in which 20 teachers from New York state studied in Mexico.  Course content and outline were directly related to the NY State Syllabus.  Teachers were tasked with developing lessons that corresponded with topics in the NYS Syllabus, using authentic materials. Participants' language skills were evaluated pre- and post-experience, with much improvement being registered.  Personal reaction to the experience was extremely positive.

• Defines communicative language teaching in light of two different classroom studies.  Makes comparisons and draws conclusions about progress of the profession in this much touted area that is frequently misquoted and misnamed.  Makes suggestions to effect desired communication in the classroom.

• Discusses identification of successes and failures of early elementary programs w/a view toward maintaining support for FL study beginning early and continuing throughout schooling.

• Argues for development of global curriculum in the elementary schools.  Discusses goal of NCSS and its 4 components:  knowledge, abilities, values, and social participation.  Proposes benefit of global curriculum is preparation of students to be responsible world citizens.

• Discusses stereotypes, myths, and American perception of French as a feminine language.

• Explored how one skilled Spanish-as-a-foreign-language student in a third-year level class performed reading-to-write tasks. Case Study research methodology was used to investigate the process of reading-to-write within an academic language setting. Data were collected using stimulated-recall interviews.

• Describes a number of activities that get students up and moving about the room in order to accomplish the goal.  The activities are structured to foster communication between and among students.

• Describes FL classrooms in Belgrade as traditional, using much grammar-translation, drill, and non-contextualized instruction.  Argues in favor of seminars for language majors and in-service FL teachers on SLA and FL teaching methods, and the use of modern textbooks and ancillary materials.

• Discusses role of intrinsic motivation in use and success of "concoctions"--unusual problems that have to be solved creatively in the FL classroom.

• Discusses problems and disadvantages of LEP students and the discrimination against them.  Office of Civil Rights intervened and mandated improvements in LEP educational plans.

• Compares Vygotskian psycholinguistic theory to SLA research.

• Discusses research study of relationship between activities designated as "low affective filter" and the resultant negotiated interaction.  No correlation was found between affective filter and negotiated interaction.

• Discusses how greetings set the tone for communication.  Illustrates relationship between greetings and cultural content of interaction.

• Describes a professional development workshop for Spanish teachers held in Mexico.  Advocates the use of authentic materials in FL instruction.  Argues for cultural immersion and TL practice on the part of FL instructors.

• Gives reasons for playing games in the Spanish language classroom.  Describes 5 culturally specific games and provides instructions on playing them.

• Advocates use of computers in foreign language instruction, but cautions that much of the software currently available emphasizes drill and practice of a discrete-point, grammatical nature, leaving little room for teacher and student creativity in the language.

• Argues in favor of using poetry in whole language approach to language instruction.  Offers suggestions for incorporating poetry into FL lesson; delineates various uses and benefits of poetry for language instruction.

• Discusses several SLA theories w/a view toward the SLA of her daughter.  Emphasizes input, contextualization, sufficient time to study/acquire a FL, and quality (not quantity) of practice of TL forms.

• Seeks to clarify confusion between those who favor a more grammatical structure of language teaching and those who feel that grammar is not the "be all end all."  Addresses skepticism aimed at proponents of proficiency-oriented instruction.

• Pantomime discussed as a classroom teaching method.  Linked to TPR, ALM, and Audio-Motor Unit.  Pantomime viewed as reducing stress and anxiety in classroom.  Communication consists of 63% body language and gesture, 30% eye contact, and only 7% speech (Berkowitz).  Advocates development of own set of personal gestures for classroom use.

• Reviews the relationship between pedagogy and interaction by analyzing extracts from second-language (L2) classrooms using a conversation analysis methodology. Points out that the relationship between the two is necessarily reflexive and concludes that it would be preferable for pedagogical recommendations to harmonize with the interactional organization of the L2 classroom.

• Revisits the polemic between teaching literature and culture, on the one hand, and striving for communicative competence on the other.  Proposes holistic view of teaching in the FL classroom.

• Reports results of a study of formal classroom instruction and informal L2 learning.  Informal subjects did better in oral proficiency, grammar and structure.

• Suggests that FLL failure may be attributable to L1 language problems.  Advocates teaching phonology of L1, then phonology of L2.

• Discusses LD classification and implications for FL learners.  Suggests Linguistics Coding Differences Hypothesis as explanation for lack of FL learning aptitude.

• Qualitative research study of students’ perceptions of literature during a survey course.  Data collection included audiotape classroom observations, interviews, reflective teaching journal, and weekly conversations w/researchers.  Process of studying literature is a mixture of deciphering language, making sense of texts within their social and historical contexts and of sharing interpretations of texts.

• Offers a hierarchy of activities to accompany video viewing:  silent viewing, identifying cultural differences, recognizing themes, identifying students’ perspectives on the video.

• Illustrates use of three cooperative learning models in the foreign language classroom.

• Details a study with experimental and control groups viewing a video under different listening circumstances.  While both groups profited from the listening approaches, the group that focused primarily on the listening portion benefitted more. The hypothesis that systematic instruction in the use of strategies will result in the improvement of listening comprehension was confirmed.

• Author avers that research (extensively cited)has shown that grammar correction has little effect on students’ writing ability.  Claims that teachers are inconsistent in their corrections. Argues that grammar correction in second-language writing classes should be abandoned because it is ineffective, harmful, and unhelpful in any interesting sense for theoretical and practical reasons. The article also considers and rejects a number of arguments previously offered in favor of grammar correction.

• Communication-based teaching techniques are described that lead German language students from input to output in a stimulating and motivating learning environment. Input activities are most useful for presenting speech acts, vocabulary, and grammar; output activities, for fine-tuning those areas as well as for expanding students' productive skills.

• Reports results of study using keywords and rote memorization to learn vocabulary words.  Adult learners performed better with keyword mnemonics, but words with multiple meanings proved difficult to teach using this method.  Recall time was shorter for rote memorization subjects.

• Discusses problems of using authentic materials of high difficulty level.  French news broadcasts by Satellite Communications for Learning (SCOLA) may prove overwhelmingly difficult for typical intermediate-level students because it is written discourse in an audiovisual medium. However, thoughtful selection of material and careful preparation of related exercises can make SCOLA features rewarding even for students with relatively low proficiency. Offers concrete suggestions for successful implementation of same.  Advocates appropriate use of authentic broadcasts at specific levels.

• Discusses an experiment w/2nd year university level Spanish students, divided into 3 groups.  Each group received a different form of instruction in object pronouns:  traditional, processing, and no explicit instruction.  Results show processing instruction has some effect on the developing system of language in terms of making form-meaning connections during input processing.

• Discusses a study that was conducted to determine the effects of school affiliation on the level of language competency attained by Spanish 1 students. Competency in all four language skills was measured by a Spanish 1 exam, and the differences between the two groups in attitude toward foreign language learning were examined.

• Examines the relationship between self-identification labels and self-reported language use, among other factors, of students who have self selected into Spanish-for-Native-Speakers (SNS) courses. A principal goal of this study is to work toward better understanding of certain identity features of students with heritage language skills in order to inform future curriculum development in student-centered SNS programs.

• Examined qualitative data available on block scheduling and foreign language learning and conducted a study wherein end-of-course tests were administered in listening, speaking, reading, and writing to 60 classes of students in French I. Results are discussed.

• Examined the role of homework in foreign language instruction and learning. The study was conducted through questionnaires, interviews, and quantitative analysis of the amount of homework that foreign language teachers assigned their students. There was little evidence that homework either contributed to or detracted from the language learning process.

• Centers on computer-mediated communication in a second language (L2). Introduces a conceptual framework for understanding the role of computer-mediated interaction based on a sociocultural analysis of the relationship among text, talk, and learning. Then analyzes current research according to five features particular to online interaction.  Uses Vygotskian perspective.

• Addresses bilingual education of Hispanic students and use of "Sheltered English" as an effective approach to teaching content areas are reaching LEP and FEP students.  In Sheltered English classrooms, teachers help Limited English Proficient and Fluent English Proficient students through the difficult task of learning academic content while mastering a second language.

• Discusses an approach to teaching the preterite and imperfect in Spanish that includes an understanding of the temporal and discourse properties of the tenses.  Advocates teaching tenses separately so students have a grasp of them, then integrating them via contextualized activity such as an ongoing story.

• Studied the impact of exposure to authentic video--a Spanish-language telenovela--on the second-language acquisition process of students studying Spanish at the university level. Measured the increase in listening comprehension that exposure to the soap opera would afford and tested the validity of the hypothesis that an increase in the quality and quantity of input would contribute to enhanced oral proficiency. Advocates use of authentic video for improvement oflistening comprehension as well as other benefits:  more self-confidence on part of students when speaking and meeting a variety of Standards goals areas (Cultures, Communities).

• Discusses relationship of background knowledge to reading comprehension.  Advocates various assessment tasks for better measure of reading comprehension.

• Investigated the effects of three different writing tasks (descriptive, narrative, and expository) and three different writing prompts (bare, vocabulary, and prose model) on 937 writing samples culled from 330 novice learners enrolled in classes of Level 1 and 2 high school French. Out of three types investigated, the prose prompt proved most effective.

• Discusses instruction of these two grammatical forms and suggests their importance as well as their difficulty.  Offers some activities to help students practice the preterite and imperfect.

• Presents suggestions for more accurately and effectively assessing students' oral foreign language skills, covering classroom atmosphere, testing frequency, and audiotaping student responses. A sample score sheet and evaluation criteria are provided.Argues for assessment of the speaking skill, using authentic tasks and communication.  Suggests rating scales and categories for evaluation.

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