摘要:

A great deal of current research in language acquisition and in ESL classroom practice is coalescing into a method for second language instruction called Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Although there is agreement about some of its characteristics, other aspects of this method lack consensus or even clear definition. One reason for this may be because CLT has moved away from the metaphors commonly used to describe language teaching but has not as yet fastened onto one of its own. This article discusses some characteristics of what such a new metaphor might be and reviews a few of the ways in which CLT guides classroom practice, aligns ESL teaching with current theory in other fields, and offers directions for future research.

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586711

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

A traditional distinction in the literature on program evaluation is that betweenformativeandsummativeevaluation (Scriven 1967). It is argued here, however, that a process/product distinction is important, too. Process evaluation, in particular, addresses issues which are often ignored by formative studies, but which are of special interest where second language programs are concerned. Process evaluations can usefully draw upon the procedures and findings of classroom‐centered research on language learnin

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586712

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This study is part of a larger project which examines faculty response to the written errors of students who are non‐native speakers of English. The particular study described here was designed to determine which sentence‐level errors are judged to be most serious by an academic community and to discover what factors may influence this judgment. A survey was conducted to measure how a cross‐section of faculty at Iowa State University respond to certain common ESL writing errors. The 164 respondents ranked the relative gravity of 12 typical ESL written errors occurring in 24 sentences. Results indicate that most respondents did not judge all errors as equally grievous; rather, their judgments generate a hierarchy of errors. The study also suggests that both the age and academic discipline of faculty members may be important factors in predicting their response to certain ESL student writing e

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586713

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Theoretical as well as empirical research within the framework of schema‐theoretical approaches to reading has shown reading comprehension to be an interaction between a text and a reader. More specifically, the interaction involves reader background knowledge of text structure and the hierarchical content structure of the text. In her investigations of both adult and adolescent native readers of English, Meyer (1975, 1977a, 1977b, 1979, 1982; Meyer, Brandt, and Bluth 1980; Meyer and Freedle 1984) has found that certain types of rhetorical organization of expository prose are processed and recalled differently from other types. This article reports the results of a study of the effects of rhetorical organization of different types of expository prose on intermediate ESL readers of different native languages. Results indicate that certain more highly structured English rhetorical patterns are more facilitative of recall for non‐native readers in general, but there are interesting differences among the native language groups represented in the study: Spanish, Arabic, and Orien

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586714

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article is a theoretical exploration of the relationship between literacy and second language acquisition (SLA). First, a study which investigated this relationship and which was conducted in a Thai refugee camp is reviewed. Next, major findings in current second language research are presented, and these are then discussed both in terms of the findings of the study as well as in the light of conflicting approaches to contemporary issues in literacy. Specifically, it is suggested that a functional approach to investigating literacy is more useful for community problem solving than a developmental approach. Finally, it is argued that for a more comprehensive understanding of language learning, trends in literacy research might have a great deal to offer SLA researchers. It is further proposed that ethnographic investigations of literacy and language are the best means for understanding the roles of each in the intricate web of human relationships.

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586715

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The existence of the paragraph as an authentic feature of written English is not in doubt. However, there is evidence that the kinds of traditional rhetorical categories (such as definition, cause/effect, and comparison/contrast) commonly presented in ESL composition textbooks do not in fact accurately describe the majority of paragraphs actually written and published in English. As an alternative, a set of descriptive models for teaching paragraph development in ESL writing classes is offered here based on thegiven/new contract, a theory of information distribution developed by text linguists and validated by psychologists in studies of reading comprehension. Also described here is a study carried out to determine the ability of these alternative models to describe paragraph structures that occur in experimental research reports published in English. Results indicate that various patterns of given and new information which conform to the models are in fact regular features of the 60 paragraphs studied. Applications of the models to ESL composition classes are discussed, with special reference to courses in scientific and technical writing. The use of the given/new model at the editing stage is illustrated with examples from student papers.

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586716

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Supervision of teachers is an important part of both pre‐service and in‐service teacher education programs, and teacher educators have a wide choice of supervisory behaviors which they can use in the process of training second language teachers. It seems to be the case, however, that many second language teacher educators continually limit themselves to the same reasons for doing supervision and the same supervisory behaviors. This article illustrates how limiting some styles of supervision can be and then, in exploring alternative ways that supervision can be done, encourages teacher educators to experiment in their use of supervisory behaviors. Five models of supervision are discussed: 1) directive, 2) alternative, 3) collaborative, 4) non‐directive, and 5) cre

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586717

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586718

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586719

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586720

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY