Investigated whether a correlation exists between a nonnative English speaker's reading proficiency in English and the use of native-English-like pausing in reading aloud. Results indicate a statistically significant although moderate correlation between students' reading test scores and their native-like use of pausing in reading aloud. (38…

Examined the strategies used by native-English-speaking foreign language (FL) learners to read Spanish and English texts in order to investigate differences in FL reading strategies between males and females. Results indicate that students processed the Spanish and English passages using local and global strategies, respectively, and that males…

Investigates the extent to which pedagogical intervention can facilitate the development of pragmatic competence in English. First-year Japanese students were tape recorded in group discussions at the beginning and end of a course in which attempts were made to increase their level of awareness of, and expand their ability to use, markers of…

Presents results of a questionnaire filled out by international students regarding years of English study, length of residence in the United States, free reading habits in the first and second language, and television watching. Reading in English, English study in the home country, and length of residence in the United States affected students'…

Presents an efficient method for extracting collocations from corpora, which uses the cost criteria measure and a tree-based data structure. Proposes a bilingual collocation concordancer, a tool that provides language learners with collocation correspondences between a native and foreign language. (Eight references) (Author/CK)

Discusses a information technology in the teaching and learning process, and focuses on the design, delivery, and refinement of a computer-assisted French for Business course for British universities. (12 references) (Author/CK)

Discusses a research project aimed at designing a computer-based system to help students learn to summarize French texts by using a method called Case-Based Reasoning (CBR). Such a system uses previous, similar situations to make a new summary by reusing and adapting the same summarization rules. The rationale underlying the learning of text…

Describes principles underlying ILLICO, a generic natural-language software tool for building larger applications for performing specific linguistic tasks such as analysis, synthesis, and guided composition. Shows to what extent this approach is relevant to the development of computer-assisted language-learning systems. (Author/VWL)

Reports on two projects dedicated to the compilation of a basic French vocabulary list, the translation of this list into five European languages, and the publication of the results as an electronic reference book for teachers and learners of French as a second language. (Author/VWL)

Evaluated the effectiveness of a multimedia-based English language learning program at a Hong Kong university. Pretesting and posttesting of students who did and did not take a required course in a multimedia enhanced mode indicated that intervention students had significantly improved listening skills. Results demonstrated positive attitudinal…

Examines the role of metacognition, particularly problem solving strategies, in how second language students learn in a multimedia environment, studying problem solving strategies used by students completing exercises in Mydlarski and Paramskas' program, Vi-Conte. Presents recommendations for training teachers, noting that the flexibility of…

Investigated whether college-level second language learners would learn better from an exercise in which they repeated the original sentence they got wrong or when presented with a different, parallel sentence. Results found that some students preferred to redo the same sentence, while others preferred a different one. One main difference was in…

Describes a course that used e-mail to improve the German and Spanish written language skills of Canadian Foreign Service Officers. To lower attrition rates, the course required completion of authentic professional tasks, exposing participants to formal, technical, and informal language. Though initial interest was high, attrition was also high,…

Describes a project designed to make second language reading more pleasurable, noting how computers can help students achieve this goal. The researcher used HyperCard to create reading software with translations appearing in pop-up windows, allowing students to read text with minimal interruption. Students reacted positively to the software, and…

Examined the effectiveness of computer assisted language learning among two groups of students enrolled in an intermediate French course. One group of students spent more time each week in a computer laboratory than did a second group of students. Overall, students who spent more time in the laboratory had higher class averages at the end of the…