This article considers how 3 fundamental concepts of second language acquisition (SLA), the native speaker, interlanguage, and the language learner have fared since Firth and Wagner (1997). We review the ascendancy of these concepts and their relationship to the traditional dichotomies of language learning versus language use and individual mind…

We discuss the challenges of Web-based teaching for language teachers and then describe in detail an extended episode of misunderstanding that occurred between 2 students discussing their versions of history during a classroom-based, asynchronous telecollaborative project between learners of German in the United States and learners of English in…

Documents the changing role that literature has played in foreign language teaching as seen through the articles published in the "Modern Language Journal" between 1916 and 1999. (Author/VWL)

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. (Author/VWL)

Discusses recent research in reading comprehension, discourse analysis, and literary theory as it bears on the way in which the teaching of literary texts can be integrated into a general approach to the teaching of language as social discourse. Suggests a new approach to integrating language and literature in foreign language teaching. (SED)

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' guidelines for foreign language teaching and learning focus on the linear acquisition of grammatical structures, but this proficiency will not automatically lead to interactional competence. Enthusiasm generated by the proficiency movement should be redirected toward a push for…