FOREIGN LANGUAGE RESEARCH IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE -- Editorial page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Table of contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Section I- Priorities in the US and in Europe -- Foreign Language Instruction and Second Language Acquisition Research in the United States -- 1 The language situation in the United States -- 1.1 Dominance of English -- 1.2 FL Instruction in Public Schools -- 1.3 Language Professions -- 1.4 FL Instruction outside Public Education -- 1.5 Myths about Language -- 2 Research on second language acquisition -- 2.1 Research Paradigms -- 2.2 Learning Contexts -- 2.2.1 Formal theories of Language -- 2.2.2 Functionalist approaches to language -- 3 Models of Learning -- 4 Conclusions -- References -- Empirical Foreign Language Research in Europe -- 1 The state of FLT provisions -- 2 The state of empirical FLT research in Europe -- 3 Requirements for the near future -- 4 Concluding remarks -- References -- Section II - Measurement and Research Design -- Introduction to the Section Measurement and Research Design -- Focus on Form: A Design Feature in Language Teaching Methodology -- 1 Against methods -- 2 Focus on form in language teaching -- 3 Focus on form: a psycholinguistic rationale -- 4 Further research -- References -- Pros, Cons, and Limits to Quantitative Approaches in Foreign Language Acquisition Research -- 1 Bigness in Language-Related Research -- 2 Product Research Versus Process Research: A Question of Depth -- 3 Deeper Forms of Process -- 4 Illustration # 1: Two Solitudes -- 5 Illustration # 2: Bilingualism's Effects on Creative-Type Thinking -- 6 Illustration # 3: The Effects of Attitudes and Motivation on Foreign Language Study -- 7 Illustration #4: Processes Underlying the Transformation of Subtractive to Additive Forms of Bilingualism -- Acknowledgement -- Notes -- References.

Ask a Stupid Question...: Testing Language Proficiency in the Context of Research Studies -- 1 Preliminary considerations -- 1.1 Test development and piloting -- 1.2 Test bias -- 1.3 Practical considerations -- 2 Desirable test characteristics -- 2.1 Psychometric considerations -- 2.1.1 Objectivity -- 2.1.2 Reliability -- 2.1.3 Validity -- 2.1.4 Test scores and scales -- 2.1.5 Other aspects -- 2.2 Linguistic considerations -- 3 Tests -- 3.1 Tests of linguistic knowledge -- 3.2 Tests of linguistic performance -- 3.2.1 Subjective tests of linguistic performance -- 3.2.2 Objective tests of linguistic performance -- 3.3 Tests of communicative performance -- 4 Conclusions -- Acknowledgement -- References -- Item Response Theory and Reduced Redundancy Techniques: Some Notes on Recent Developments in Language Testing -- 1 Theories of Testing -- 1.1 Classical Test Theory -- 1.2 Item Response Theory -- 1.3 The Rasch Model -- 1.4 Application of the Rasch Model -- 1.5 Test Equation -- 1.6 Item Banking -- 1.7 Tailored Testing -- 1.8 Test-Content Bias-A Threat to Comparative Research -- 1.9 Summing up -- 2 Assessment of Language Proficiency by Means of Reduced Redundancy Techniques -Illustration of a Recent Line of Development -- 2.1 The Cloze Procedure -- 2.2 The Rational Deletion Cloze-An Investigation -- 2.3 The C-Test -- 3 Concluding Remarks -- Acknowledgement -- References -- Section III-Teaching Environments -- Introduction to the Section on Teaching Environments -- Research on Language Teaching Methodologies: A Review of the Past and an Agenda for the Future -- Role of the Teacher -- Language Focus -- Use of the Students' Native Language -- 1 Summary of Empirical Research -- 1.1 Global Methodological Comparisons -- 1.2 Classroom Process Description -- 1.3 Methodological Features -- 2 Two Areas for a Future Research Agenda -- 2.1 Process/Product Studies.

2.2 Language Teacher Studies -- 3 Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Problems in Defining Instructional Methodologies -- 1 "Method" in language teaching -- 2 Methods as packages -- 3 Defining current Methods -- 4 The need for more general categories -- 5 Language teaching in a social context -- 6 Conclusion -- References -- Evaluation of Foreign Language Teaching Projects and Programmes -- 1 Evaluation and Educational Research -- 2 Experiment and quasi-experiment in FL/L2 programme evaluation -- 3 Alternatives to experimental models -- 4 The art of answering evaluation questions: a case study -- References -- The Characterization of Teaching and Learning Environments: Problems and Perspectives -- 1 The traditional distinctions in our field -- 1.1 Characterizations and purposes -- 1.2 Different types of "difference -- 1.3 Informal versus formal contexts -- 1.4 Defining "teaching" -- 1.5 "Second language" and "foreign language" contexts -- 2 Learning opportunities -- 2.1 "Encounter" -- 2.2 "Practice" -- 3 Learning opportunities and the SLA mainstream -- 4 Idiosyncracy and systematicity -- 5 Conclusions -- References -- Section IV - Learning Environments -- Introduction to the Section Learning Environments -- Some Ins and Outs of Foreign Language Classroom Research -- 1 The Classroom as a Complex Learning Environment -- 2 "Internal" versus "External" factors in Classroom Learning -- 3 Are Learner-Internal factors variables over time? -- 4 Classroom Interaction -- 5 Summary -- Notes -- References -- Linguistic Theory and Foreign Language Learning Environments -- 1 Background: The Nature of Our Linguistic Knowledge -- 2 Focus of current linguistic endeavors -- 2.1 Universal Grammar -- 2.2 Language Acquisition -- 2.3 Second Language Acquisition -- 3 Implications for instructional settings -- 3.1 What Knowledge is Available to the Learner?.

3.2 How Is This Knowledge Used -- 3.2.1 General Linguistic Knowledge: Universal Grammar -- 3.2.2 First Language Knowledge -- 3.2.2 General Cognitive Knowledge -- 3.3 How Does Learning Take Place? -- 3.4 Consequences for Curriculum Development -- 4 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- Notes -- References -- Culture in Language Learning: A View From the United States -- 1 Educational traditions in the teaching of language and culture. -- 1.1 Utility, democracy and scientific measures of progress (United States -- 1.1.1 Skill vs. content: The States' Boards of Education Guidelines -- 1.1.2 Political goals -- 1.1.3 Non-academic objectives -- 1.1.4 Academic learning outcomes -- 1.2 Systems of language and systems of thought (France) -- 1.3 Language learning and political consciousness (Hessen) -- 1.4 Culture as performance and competence -- 2 Current efforts to link the teaching of language and culture in the United States -- 2.1 Internationalization of American education -- 2.2 National Foreign Language Center -- 2.3 Cultural Proficiency Guidelines -- 3 Current obstacles -- 3.1 The notion of "global village" and the assumed universality of modern managerial, commercial, scientific cultures over the national historical/humanistic (Pfeiffer 1988:52) -- 3.2 The conduit metaphorfor language. Influence of information-processing theories on the way acquisition of knowledge and intercultural communication are perceived to take place -- 3.3 Emphasis on imperative knowledge. Influence of computer science technology on the way knowledge is used -- 3.4 Television and the illusion of immediate mediation between cultures -- 3.5 Lack of a theoretical framework for the discussion of culture and for contrastive cultural analyses -- 4 Refraining traditional questions -- 5 Conclusion -- Notes -- References.

Implications of Intelligent Tutoring Systems for Research and Practice in Foreign Language Learning -- 1 Intelligent tutoring systems, learning environments, and CAI -- 1.1 Overview and Examples -- 1.2 ITS and CAI -- 1.3 Learning Environments and Microworlds -- 2 The architecture of ITS -- 2.1 Domain Knowledge -- 2.2 The Student Model -- 2.3 Diagnostics -- 2.4 Teaching Knowledge -- 2.5 Planning and Control Structures -- 2.6 The Interface and the Environment -- 3 ITS and learning -- 3.1 Theories of Skill Acquisition -- 3.2. A Framework for Studying and Designing Successful Learning Environments -- 4 Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- The series Studies in Bilingualism.