Abstract
This paper aims to establish the presence of language learning anxiety among students and to identify the factors leading to the development of students' language learning anxiety. It then discusses the factors comprising language learning achievement. The paper compares language learning achievement between students of native and non-native ESL teachers and the level of language learning anxiety between students of native and non-native ESL teachers.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Limitation of the Study
Definition of Terms
Review of Related Literature
Methodology

From the Paper
"From McDonald's study, it was established that culture is vital in understanding the true dynamics of language learning, as well as the possible roots of anxiety. However, another important factor that must be delved into is the role that teacher type plays in motivating and changing feelings of anxiety among students of ESL. From Nero's (2005) study on the characteristics and skills of ESL teachers, it was discovered that differences in achievement, aptitude, and anxiety was not dependent on teacher type (native or nonnative), but actually on the techniques and skills that teachers utilize in their everyday teaching of ESL (203)."

Tags:education, ESL, performance

Abstract
In this article, the writer discusses what link, if any, exists between student learning anxiety and native versus non-native teachers in the EFL / ESL classroom environment. The study identifies key issues surrounding this question in an attempt to identify what factors contribute to Taiwanese students' increases in language learning anxiety. Further, it investigates these issues with the intention of fleshing out valuable knowledge for future research and educational advancement. The writer concludes that this comparison of language learning anxiety between students of native and non-native ESL teachers in Taiwan intends to seek out what problems exist in the current system. The writer points out that by identifying and examining such problems, administrators can make educated decisions in the recruiting of foreign or native teachers to their ESL / EFL programs.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of the Study
Research Questions
Definition of Terms
Limitations of the Study
Summary
References

From the Paper
"Taiwan is experiencing an increase in English learners. As a result, a higher number of English language teachers are necessary. To meet this need, many foreign teachers specializing in ESL / EFL have flocked to Taiwan to teach classrooms full of English learners. For a variety of reasons, most of these English learners experience an Americanized version of English language training. Lou and Chism relay this Americanized English learning with the inability of young Taiwanese students to make associations between their own culture and experiences and English. This Americanized learning is in part due to the use of American written and published EFL textbooks. Yet, in classrooms where English is taught by a foreign ESL / EFL teacher, it is difficult to know whether the textbooks or the foreign teachers create difficulty in establishing successful language connections."

Tags:English, teaching, culture, training

Abstract
This study provides a comparison of language learning anxiety between language learners being instructed by both native and non-native English as a second language teachers in Taiwan today. This paper uses a critical and comprehensive review of the peer-reviewed and scholarly literature to develop the background and resources needed to answer the study's guiding research questions. The paper provides a summary of the research, important conclusions and salient recommendations in the concluding chapter.

Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1:
Definition and Overview of Anxiety
Language Anxiety and ESL Instructors
Chapter Summary
Chapter 2: Methodology
Description of the Study Approach
Data-Gathering Method and Database of Study
Chapter 3: Data Analysis
Chapter 4: Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

From the Paper
"According to these authors, "Motivation, it now appears, is but one of many individual variables that influence the success of language learning. Anxious students can filter their language learning experience through such thick shielding that often immense amounts of comprehensible input result in limited intake. Risk-takers in terms of language learning progress more quickly and experience greater enjoyment than do their non-risk-taking peers" (emphasis added) (Leaver & Shekhtman, 2002, p. 15). In the classroom setting, a number of interpersonal and small-group issues can enhance or impair the efforts of any individual student in the "visible classroom" (the overt relationships) who reacts poorly to the "invisible classroom" (ubiquitous but covert group dynamics), to use the concept and terminology advanced for this purpose (e.g., the significance of small-group dynamics and rapport may be greater than many teachers realize) (Leaver & Shekhtman, 2002).
The vast majority of research on these variables has been conducted on groups of students with mixed backgrounds and at lower levels of proficiency. Based on their lengthy experience and empirical observations, our seventeen-year experience in extensive and intensive work with Superior-level students, learners at this level, especially those studying in courses and groups, tend to have a different set of anxieties, most of which are more closely tied to linguistic aspects of job performance than to the intellectual risk-taking required of language learning in general (Leaver & Shekhtman, 2002)."

Tags:chinese, interpersonal, learner, educational, class, behavior

Abstract
This paper explains that there are many different ways to teach a student a second language, and every teacher must find a principle or practice that works with his or her teaching methods. The author points out that students learn the art of conversation from their peers, not just through vocabulary and grammar lessons. The paper relates the stages of acquiring a second language are pre-production (no speech), early production (limited vocabulary), speech emergence (increase in comprehension, listening and speech), and nearly fluent (express their ideas in both oral and written communication).

From the Paper
"The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis is the most fundamental of Krashen's theory. There are two independent systems of second language performance--the acquired system and the learned system. The acquired system is the result of a subconscious process much like how a person learns their first language. The person must have significant dealings in the language in which they wish to learn."

Tags:peer, production, subconscious, correctness, anxieties

Abstract
This paper focuses on peer assisted learning strategies and how student attitudes affect performance in SLA. It critically evaluates five studies with a focus on how the research methodology might have been improved, what potential bias' researcher might have brought to the study, as well as the implications of the studies themselves. The articles are; "Negotiation for Meaning and Peer Assistance in Second Language Classrooms" by Pauline Foster and Amy Snyder-Ohta, "Impact of Classroom Dynamics on the Effectiveness of Recasts in Second Language Acquisition" by Frank Morris and Elaine Tarone, "Collaborative E-mail Exchange for Teaching Secondary ESL: A Case Study in Hong Kong" by Roseanne Greenfield, "Cooperation and Competition in a Korean Middle School English Class: A Case Study" by Lee Sung-Lim and "The Effects of Reciprocal Peer Tutoring on Graduate Student's Achievement, Test Anxiety, and Academic Self-Efficacy" by Bryan and Marlynn Griffin.

Outline
"Negotiation for Meaning and Peer Assistance in Second Language Classrooms"
"Impact of Classroom Dynamics on the Effectiveness of Recasts in Second Language Acquisition"
"Collaborative E-mail Exchange for Teaching Secondary ESL: A Case Study in Hong Kong"
"Cooperation and Competition in a Korean Middle School English Class: A Case Study"
"The Effects of Reciprocal Peer Tutoring on Graduate Student's Achievement, Test Anxiety, and Academic Self-Efficacy"
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Peer-assisted learning is an educational concept that has long been used to actively engage students in the knowledge acquisition process, and is known by a variety of names, such as collaborative learning, cooperative learning, collective learning, learning communities, peer teaching, peer learning, peer coaching, reciprocal learning, team learning, study circles, study groups, and work groups (adapted from Gross-Davis, 1993:http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html), which, though these terms are not interchangeable, share its most salient feature, peer-assisted knowledge acquisition, in contrast to individualistic study."

Tags:attitudes, circles, coaching, collaborative, collective, communities, cooperative, groups, peer, reciprocal, student, study, teaching, team, work

Abstract
"The method created by Richards and Rogers (1986) is comprised of the following elements: -Approach: Consisting of language theory and language learning theory. -Design: Consisting of objectives, syllabus, activity, learner roles, teacher roles and materials. -Procedure: Consisting of techniques, practices and behaviors. In relation to teaching English as a second language, with a focus on communication, this method can be applied as is demonstrated in the following lesson plan. "

From the Paper
Second Language Learning and Communication The method created by Richards and Rogers (1986) is comprised of the following elements: * Approach: Consisting of language theory and language learning theory. * Design: Consisting of objectives, syllabus, activity, learner roles, teacher roles and materials. * Procedure: Consisting of techniques, practices and behaviors. In relation to teaching English as a second language, with a focus on communication, this method can be applied as is demonstrated in the following lesson plan.

Tags:communication, esl, edu

Abstract
This paper focuses on language learning, explaining that language is learned through repeated use, and the acquisition of new words depends on the native speaker hearing the new word or seeing it written a number of times until he or she also begins using that word in daily discourse. The paper concludes that the acquisition of a new word generally takes place in the context of sentences that give the individual clues about the part of speech involved, the specific meaning of the word, different ways the word may be used, and the context in which it is most likely to be found.

From the Paper
"Language is learned through repeated use, and the acquisition of new words depends on the native speaker hearing the new word or seeing it written a number of times until he or she also begins using that word in daily discourse. The acquisition of a new word generally takes place in the context of sentences that give the individual clues about the part of speech involved, the specific meaning of the word, different ways the word may be used, and the context in which it is most likely to be found. The most common method for learning a word is not simply to have the word given along with its meaning, as on a list of new definitions for recently coined words. While that method is possible in some circumstances, it is ..."

Tags:ESL, second, bilingual

Abstract
This paper examines how second language acquisition can take place in a variety of situations and environments. The ways in which individuals approach this is discusses, such as taking classes to learn a second language, while others may have no choice because they have moved from one culture to another and have to learn the new language in order to function. The paper further points out that American educators are quite familiar with both situations, from guiding American students into a new language, to helping immigrants learn English in order to fit into the social order in America.

From the Paper
"Second language acquisition can take place in a variety of situations and environments. Some take a class to learn a second language, for instance, while others may have no choice because they have moved from one culture to another and have to learn the new language in order to function. American educators are quite familiar with both situations, from guiding American students into a new language, to helping immigrants learn English in order to fit into the social order in America. In acquiring a new language, the student also acquires a degree of the culture of the culture that produced and uses that language. This is perhaps more obvious for, say, ESL students in an American classroom, given that they are living in..."

Tags:language, learning, culture

Abstract
The paper outlines how the research cited in the article makes use of two methods of learning, one with no sentence writing and only the use of repetition to learn 12 words, and the other using a sentence writing as a way of learning 12 words. The paper relates that participants were exposed to the twelve words along with a picture of the object for each word, after which they completed three posttests, one set immediately, one two days after learning, and one a week after learning. The paper describes how the tests were scored, and relates that the results were submitted to repeated measures analyses of variance to assure that the results were correct.

From the Paper
"The research cited in the article makes use of two methods of learning, one with no sentence writing and only the use of repetition to learn 12 words, and the other using a sentence writing as a way of learning 12 words. Participants were exposed to the twelve words along with a picture of the object for each word, after which they completed threee posttests, one set immediately, one two days after learning, and one a week after learning. The tests were scored, and the results were submitted to repeated measures analyses of variance to assure that the results were correct. The fist step was to identify the participants, drawn from 60..."

Tags:language, research, methods

Abstract
This paper gives an in-depth description of how culture acquisition is a spectrum with monocultural identity on one side of the spectrum and transculturation on the other. It further notes that culture acquisition is a journey of discovery and negotiation and is right at the heart of language learning. Various scholars and their works are cited.

From the Paper
"...suggests that culture acquisition (CA) is a spectrum with monocultural identity on one side of the spectrum and transculturation (identification with the host culture) on the other (p. 28); thus, CA is a journey of discovery and negotiation. In fact, the CA journey is right at the heart of language learning. For example, Tong (1997) argues that "the acquisition and use of English is a measure of the degree to which students have become acculturated to the host culture" (p. 45). In other words, in the academic studies cited by Tong, it is not language skill..."

Tags:culture, acquisition, language