| VOLUME 34, No. 2 - March/April 2001 |
Computer-Assisted Reading: The Effect of Glossing Format on Comprehension and Vocabulary Retention
Serafima Gettys, Stanford University; Lorens A. Imhof; Rheinisch–Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen; Joseph O. Kautz, University of Washington
Abstract: This article focuses on the issue of the optimal on-line glossing format. Two glossing methods are compared. The first method provides readers with sentence-level translation equivalents of the second-language (L2) words. The second method connects the words with their meanings through basic dictionary forms. The main purpose of the study was to determine which of the two glossing formats is more beneficial for text comprehension and vocabulary retention. The results of the study show that retention of lexical items is better aided by reading the text with dictionary-form equivalents of the L2 words, because it involves a deeper level of cognitive processing. The situation is less clear-cut regarding the effect of the two glossing formats on global comprehension. The pedagogical implications of the data obtained are discussed. (pgs 91-106)
Toward Responsive Beginning Language Curricula
Larbi Oukada, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis
Abstract: This article proposes, on the basis of a host of curricular factors, a stratification of foreign language programs in U.S. institutions of higher learning into two graded and curricularly distinctive phases. An initial phase, the general education phase, would be comprised predominantly of nonmajors who enroll in beginning language courses with the premeditated purpose of satisfying a language requirement or investing on their own a modest amount of credit hours to explore or study a second language. A subsequent phase, the professional phase, would begin with courses intended for prospective majors and minors who are customarily predisposed to commit enough time to reach the necessary proficiency level required for their professional goal. This curricular distinction serves to underscore the particular situation and the particular mission of the general education phase and to propose a particular curricular model, the Indiana Model. This model provides, within the current and autonomous structure of the American educational system, a mechanism for selecting, prioritizing, and structuring the most responsive objectives for general-education foreign language teaching. (pgs 107-117)
The Effects of Differences in Point of View on the Story Production of Japanese EFL Students
Taeko Kamimura, Senshu University; Kyoko Oi, Toyo Eiwa University
Abstract: This study examines how differences in point of view influence the story production of Japanese EFL students with different levels of English proficiency. Japanese college EFL students wrote two narrative stories based on the same series of pictures, one in the first-person perspective and the other in the third-person perspective. The sample writings were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively in relation to the students’ levels of English proficiency. The results showed that when the perspective was shifted from the first to the third person, the low-proficiency students’ writings became poorer in quantity and quality, whereas the high-proficiency students’ narratives exhibited no decrease in quantity and a slight decline in quality. On the other hand, when the perspective was switched from the third to the first person, the students’ writings showed both quantitative and qualitative development, and this development was more clearly observed in the stories of those with high English proficiency. (pgs 118-130)
Introducing Action Research into the Education of Postsecondary Foreign Language Teachers
Graham Crookes, University of Hawai’i: Paul Michael Chandler, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Abstract: This article reports on the introduction of an action research component into an existing graduate foreign language teaching methodology course for beginning foreign language teachers (graduate teaching assistants and graduate students) at the college level. The authors discuss the implementation, benefits, and caveats of such a project, illustrated with samples of feedback from the graduate teaching assistants’ journals, evaluations, and follow-up interviews. Graduate teaching assistants reported positive attitudes about the project overall, at the same time expressing concerns about time constraints and risk taking (e.g., doing action research as beginning teachers). Limitations concerning the depth of graduate teaching assistants’ understanding of action research were noted. Four possible options for change are listed, and some conclusions are drawn about the importance of a cyclical and exploratory approach to change in foreign language teacher education programs in general. (pgs 131-140)
Processing of Cohesive Ties by EFL Arab College Students
Reima Sado Al-Jarf, King Saud University
Abstract: Fifty-nine EFL college students took a cohesion test in which they identified four types of cohesive ties in a reading text. Incorrect responses were analyzed. It was found that substitution was the most difficult to process, followed by reference and ellipsis, whereas conjunction was the easiest. In resolving the cohesion relationships, the students used the following faulty strategies: An anaphor was associated with the closest noun whether intersentential or intrasentential. When preceded by two potential antecedents, an anaphor was associated with the farther antecedent if it was salient or more familiar; an anaphor was associated with a synonym. In addition, the students matched an anaphor with a word that was identical in pronunciation or punctuation.It was found that cohesion anomalies were caused by poor linguistic competence, especially poor syntactic and semantic awareness, and poor or inaccurate knowledge of the cohesion
rules. (pgs 141-151)
Videoconferencing with the French-Speaking World: A User’s Guide
Stacey L. Katz, Montclair State University
Abstract: This article focuses on a videoconferencing project that was conducted between an American and a French university. It describes the way that the exchange was set up and run, the types of equipment and materials that were used, the students’ activities and assignments, the methods used for evaluating students’ work, and the relationship of the project to the goals of the course and the department’s curriculum. In addition, practical suggestions for those considering the use of videoconferencing are included. The pedagogical benefits of integrating videoconferencing into the communicative foreign language classroom are outlined; videoconferencing provides students with opportunities to practice their speaking and listening skills with native speakers and to gain cultural insights that are possible only in an interactive setting. (pgs 152-157)
