Identified principles that informed the lesson practices of three language teachers to find out why they did what they did in heir lessons. Used teachers lesson practices as a starting point to ensure that the nexus between practitioners' theory and practice was maintained. Sought to provide information about patterns followed by teachers in their…

Provides ideas for inspiring language Learning and maintaining Australia's common wealth as a multicultural society. Focuses on hands-on activities that stimulate language learning communities to negotiate and promote excitement and enthusiasm for languages, while creating community support. (Author/VWL)

Does the language one speaks influence the way he thinks? Does it help define his world view? Anyone who has tried to master a foreign tongue has at least considered the possibility. Little linguistic peculiarities, though amusing, don't change the objective world people are describing. So how can they alter the way they think? Scientists and…

This paper describes a project that set out to explore teachers' engagement with the issue of continuity in teaching, learning, and assessment as a central dimension of transition. The project revealed that teachers are deeply concerned with questions such as what progress students are making and how to maximise students' learning in the short and…

While language teaching and learning offers students essential skills and understanding in the realm of intercultural competence, both students and teachers operate within the context of the wider curriculum. Primary language specialists, for instance, often work within a collaborative environment with their generalist classroom colleagues. In…

Teachers like to believe that students learn what they are taught. Following up on research that questions this belief, a large-scale study of the acquisition of German as a foreign language by French-speaking school students in Geneva (DiGS, or "Deutsch in Genfer Schulen," "German in Geneva schools") further explored the question with some…

Kanji are a component of the Japanese writing system that originated from Chinese characters. There are about ten thousand kanji in use in Japanese literature, but knowledge of only the 2000 most frequently occurring of these is needed to be functionally literate in Japanese. The present study, therefore, aimed to address two questions: (1) What…

This article was written by a group from different language backgrounds who shared an interest in the languages and biodiversity of Bhutan and a curiosity about how these are interrelated and impact on each other. (Author/VWL)

Reviews the success of communicative language teaching in the context of language acquisition theory and research findings. Argues that a fairly limited use of communicative principles has been evident in popular treatments of lesson structure, content, and syllabus design. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the role of grammar in foreign language learning and instruction at the beginning level in a university setting. Highlights grammar teaching in a basic French course at an Australian university, and relates what students in the course have learned about grammar. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the neglected area in the teaching of Indonesian, namely the social significance of Indonesian varieties vis-a-vis regional languages. Suggests using a multimedia teaching tool as a possible solution, and discusses how this relates to the multiliteracies approach to pedagogy. (Author/VWL)

Reports results of a study that looked at the attitudes of students learning to write in Japanese a s a foreign language. Suggests that, despite the challenge composition writing presented to the students and their occasional frustrations over their limited linguistic skills, they felt writing to be an effective means of self expression,…

Examines why boys do not study languages in Australia. Focuses on what boys themselves are thinking and what their perceptions of their relationship with languages are. Looks at boys specific attitudes toward language learning, what they perceive to be the relevance of language learning, and what their perceptions are of the profile of language in…

Examines attitudes toward indigenous languages in Australia. Suggests that if indigenous languages were granted official status, they would develop and modernize in response, rather than die out.(Author/VWL)

Assesses the position of languages in the university sector in Australia at the start of the new millennium and after almost two decades of language policy initiatives aimed at fostering the learning of languages other than English. Reveals an ambivalent picture of the situation of languages in the university sector. (Author/VWL)