Explains how education is essentially about expanding students' literacies by developing sets of social practices that help them understand and participate in different social worlds, describing how to expand literacies through a Hispanic influence across the curriculum and how to increase the Hispanic influence through structural variations in…

Outlines the preferred learning styles of students studying second languages, offering suggestions for their application in second-language classrooms. The paper describes the right-brain/left-brain theory and how the two brain hemispheres are involved in learning; presents four classroom strategies (diversification, contextualization,…

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) National Professional Development Program helped language teachers familiarize themselves with the Languages Profile and collect and annotate work samples using the Profile. Their experiences become the basis for disseminating information among ACT language teachers. The paper presents recurrent issues raised…

Sociodramatic play, which combines role play and dramatization, is suitable for elementary and secondary language classrooms. It is learner centered and caters to varying language abilities. Children draw upon their existing experiences as the basis for their play. Teacher input is essential. The paper examines advantages and disadvantages of this…

Advocates the use of simulations in second-language classrooms, examining their advantages and presenting data from a study on college students' perceptions of the effectiveness of these advantages in an advanced second-language classroom. The study indicates that students found simulations enjoyable, motivating, and effective in promoting…

Presents a history of the use of technology in second-language instruction, beginning with the 1960s and the grammar translation method; through the audiolingual movement and language laboratories; into emerging use of tape recorders, videotapes, and computer-assisted language learning; and up through computer-assisted instruction, distance…

Discusses computer-assisted language learning for foreign-language teachers, examining the history of educational technology and highlighting CD-ROM for foreign language learning. Looks at various frustrations foreign-language teachers may experience when working with new hardware and software, discusses various types of hardware and software, and…

Examines various issues related to language-teaching via interactive television, focusing on experiences using interactive television in Australian schools. Discusses how interactive television works, how such a classroom differs from normal classrooms, the teacher's role, the structure of a typical lesson, and successful and unsuccessful teaching…

Presents one educator's opinions on the use of computers in foreign-language instruction, as well as in other areas of life in general. He suggests that computers, and particularly CD-ROMs, can be very useful in helping to instruct students, but they are no substitute for one-on-one interactions between students and teachers and should be kept in…

Examines the pedagogical uses and implications of asynchronous e-mail exchanges by reporting on a pilot project involving student-to-student penpal correspondence between the Departments of Italian at two Australian universities. Students were matched by their linguistic proficiency, then given writing tasks in pairs. The project was successful in…

Describes "Trace-it," a computer tool that traces the writing processes and makes accessible extra information about individual students' written second-language skills. A study of differences in revision behavior as Swedish students' written English ability improved determined that Trace-it found additional information about writing processes…

Discusses how interaction occurs with interactive television in the classroom, examining the introduction of interactive television into Victoria, Australia's schools and investigating two types of interaction (overt and covert) between students and teachers. Notes that the types of interaction that occur with interactive television relate to the…

Provides an overview of Esperanto, the most successful planned auxiliary language. Discusses the origin, development, and linguistic character of Esperanto, examines some of the criticism and controversy surrounding it, and poses the question as to whether Esperanto merits a place in school language programs. (Author/SM)

Describes the rich, historical tradition of festivals in Spain, explaining that a multidisciplinary focus is necessary to understand the full significance of fiesta in Spain (geography, history, music, literature, and the fine arts). Students should be encouraged to study Spanish fiestas in order to develop a deep understanding of the diversity of…

Suggests that language awareness, or consciousness raising, has great potential in second-language learning. Language awareness presents students with linguistic data so they can work out grammatical rules for themselves. Offers a variety of examples of possible language-awareness lessons, first for the teaching of English, then for the teaching…