The characteristics of “immersion” education as it is practised in Canadian contexts are described in this paper. Immersion programs are outlined in terms of their background, structure, methodology, and outcomes. It is suggested that to achieve the outcomes of immersion education found for majority language groups, some minority language groups may require a program in which initial education is in the first language, and which continues in both the first and second languages.

The amount of influence that a learner's native language has on the acquisition of a second language is an issue which has received considerable attention in research on second language acquisition. The thesis of this paper is that, within the context of the Interlanguage Hypothesis (Selinker 1972) and the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (Eckman 1977), some important properties of a learner's interlanguage (IL) can be predicted.

More specifically, it is shown that speakers of Cantonese and Japanese internalize different IL rules in attempting to deal with English word-final voice contrasts. Whereas speakers of Cantonese devoice word-final obstruents in the target language, Japanese speakers insert a word-final schwa after the voiced obstruent. However, each of these rules can be correlated with facts about the phonology of the native language, supporting the conclusion that some important aspects of ILs can be predicted on the basis of a comparison of the native and target languages.

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the hypothesis that there are fundamental differences between using language in different situations or for different purposes, and that these differences may be accounted for in terms of the requirement of the task to be solved on the basis of knowledge represented in a particular way.

This article reports on a pilot investigation of learner feedback and its effects on teacher/ learner interactions in second language learning. In twelve ESL (English as a Second Language) dyads and triads, tapes were made of the performance by the participants of a pair of tasks in referential communication. In these tasks, the teacher described verbally a series of six graphic designs in such a way that the learner(s), who had the designs reproduced on a sheet of paper, could determine the order in which the designs were described. Data analysis involved classification of both learner feedback and teachers' post-feedback responses.

Selected language acquisition research findings are examined in light of the language teacher's daily needs. Research results are reported that provide an empirical basis for selecting and grading materials, determining skills to be taught and their order of presentation, deciding on classroom presentation and procedures, and formulating evaluation instruments. Acquisition ordering relationships are shown to have a bearing on teaching sequence; that such a sequence should provide for a number of grammatical, semantic, and length constraints and a skills order constraint. In addition, the research provides support for a developmental model of learning, stressing the need for a variety of approaches and supporting a cognitively-based orientation for older children and adults. Other age-related variables are considered and their pedagogical consequences are reviewed.

In a recent study of 190 university-level advanced ESL students from 8 first-language backgrounds, significant differences were found between several groups in their proficiency in processing spatial/chronological and hierarchical information in written discourse. This paper summarizes the study, presents the results and suggests possible variables which may contribute to first-language differences in acquiring English.

This research report focuses on the relationship of English phonological variation to intelligibility for adult second language learners of English. Fifty-eight adult ESL learners (29 advanced beginners and 29 high intermediates) were tested' on their ability to understand working-class (New Yorkese), educated (Standard English) and foreign-accented speakers of English. Subjects were also asked to rank these speakers according to expected ease of comprehension. Findings from this study indicate Standard English to be more intelligible than either New Yorkese or foreign accented English for these learners.