A discussion of task-based second-language instruction gives background on the underlying theory for task-based instruction, task characteristics and components, research on task-based instruction (task features, task implementation conditions), measurement issues, selection and presentation of tasks (pre-, during, and post-task phases), and…

A review of literature on second-language curriculum design in Australia outlines some general trends in communicative language teaching theory and needs-based language curriculum planning, task-based learning, and recent cultural, social, and literacy perspectives on curriculum, and then examines specific initiatives to reform curricula, to…

A review of literature on language testing focuses on new testing issues beyond the traditional concerns of validity theory, including incorporation of social values into tests, ethics of testing, test impact, including washback, and the political character of language tests. Critical language testing, the activity of contextualizing tests in…

Several problematic issues in second-language teaching and testing are discussed, including artificial distinctions made between the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and appropriate usage in each, the relationship of language skills and language ability, and the distinction between language usage and language use. (MSE)

Discusses applications of second language acquisition (SLA) research to the preparation of language coursebooks. Suggests a number of ways that SLA research findings can help improve coursebooks and enhance the learning of large numbers of students. (Author/VWL)

Criticizes the naturalist argument underlying current propositions bearing on second language (L2) learning in natural or formal contexts. Contests Piaget's interpretation of "Didacta Magna," shows how Krashen's acquisition/learning hypothesis follows from the two brain theory and certain naturalist suppositions, and proposes language learning…

Qualitative analyses of teacher-student interaction recorded during subject-matter lessons in Grade 4 French immersion classrooms indicate that language form is often out of focus in immersion classroom discourse. Discusses pedagogical implications of research findings related to corrective feedback. (Author/VWL)

Presents comparative think-aloud protocols of beginning level language learners listening to an oral test. Argues that successful listeners use more metacognitive strategies and use these strategies to interact at a deeper level with a text to construct meaning. Outlines an instructional model for developing metastrategic awareness. (Author/VWL)

Examines the situation of Quebec's First Nations setting. Discusses problems raised by certain verbal tasks required for Atikamekw students in an Atikamekw-French bilingual program. Suggests that both first and second language pedagogy must take into account the ethnolinguistic characteristics of the students' social background and that an…

Describes two grammaticality judgment tasks--one in French and one in English--developed based on differences between the two languages vis-a-vis middle constructions. The tasks were administered to Anglopone and Francophone advanced and very advanced learners of their second language, and to unilingual groups with the same first languages.…

Discusses the definition of collocation, demonstrates that associative word combinations do form a continuum, and proposes some parameters to help delimit the scope of collocations in everyday contemporary French. (Author/VWL)

Examines the effect of the use of French as a second language on the performance of subjects in receptive skills (listening and reading comprehension) and productive skills (speaking and writing). Results establish a link between the use of the language after learning has occurred and the difference between pre- and post-test measures. (Author/VWL)

Describes the retrieving and transposing of utterances from plays that were staged in the context of a French course using drama techniques. Results show consistency even though the number of retrieved and transposed utterances varied between the subjects from one task to the other. (Author/VWL)

Reviews recent research on consulting a dictionary in second language reading and vocabulary learning. From the perspective of cognitive learning theory, reevaluates the limited role that has often been accorded to dictionary consulting. (Author/VWL)

A survey was carried out to determine whether the registers indicated in "Le Dictionnaire quebecois d'aujourd'hui" correspond to Quebec francophones' linguistic intuition. A 50-word questionnaire was given to 150 respondents, who were asked to assign a language register to each word. Results suggest that the registers in "Le Dictionnaire quebecois…