Today, numerous universities around the world are struggling with ever growing financial limitations arising from the education market and governments that control educational funding. At the same time, despite increasingly limited finances, educators must offer the same high quality of instruction that they always have to ensure their students' success in the future while working with diminished resources and funds. Current pressure leads universities and foreign language educators to seek new ways to optimize education and learning. Intensive methods can be considered a part of a solution. The current paper will not focus on the effectiveness of intensive language programs, but rather on intensive language instruction and methodologies that have been developed and are in the process of continuous development as education changes. This paper will discuss intensive methods both in their theoretical framework and practical applications. As most of the methodologies used in intensive instruction were developed in the former Soviet Union and now in Russia, this paper will also focus on Soviet and Russian developments of teaching methodologies during the past century. / text

Intensive Language Action Therapy (ILAT) is a short-term aphasia therapy that emphasises massed-practise of language, where communication is framed through language action games that approximate everyday interactions. Despite increasing interest in ILAT, a comprehensive description of its methods has thus far been missing. Furthermore due to inconsistent results, further exploration of cortical reorganisation of language functions following ILAT is warranted. The underlying principles and practical features of ILAT methods and of language-action games are fully described, including the structure and materials for two specific games. 14 English speaking patients with chronic aphasia underwent two weeks of ILAT utilising the methods outlined. Pre and post measures of language performance were collected through standardised clinical assessments, along with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans from a subset of 8 patients. Accuracy and response times for speech output and comprehension during language-action games were also recorded to measure success during the therapy interval. Data analysis showed significant improvements in clinical assessments of naming and comprehension, but not in auditory or syntactic processing tasks. Significant increases were also seen in patients’ self-ratings of quality of communication following therapy. Video and voice recordings during therapy sessions demonstrated significantly faster response times in production and comprehension of language, alongside an increase in the complexity of patients’ spoken output. Cortical activation was recorded whilst patients heard low-level noise, sentences containing ambiguous words and low-ambiguity sentences. Although the results showed no changes in cortical activation in the group of patients whilst processing low-level noise or low ambiguity sentences, increases in language-induced activation were seen in single-subject analyses in both the left and right hemispheres. Furthermore the group of patients recruited the right hemisphere significantly more than the left hemisphere following ILAT when processing complex sentences containing ambiguous words. iii Clinical assessments and measures of everyday communication showed undergoing two weeks of ILAT significantly improved speech output and comprehension in patients with chronic aphasia. Gains made in communicative performance during therapy highlight the importance of recording therapy sessions for additional assessment of therapy efficacy. Although conclusions regarding cortical reorganisation are not entirely clear, they indicate the important role of the right hemisphere in reorganisation of language after stroke.

In order to determine the reliability of international students' English as a Second Language (ESL) class performance as a predictor of academic performance, a population of 169 international students at Portland State University (PSU) in Portland, Oregon were selected and statistical tests were performed on their GPAs and TOEFL scores. Individual students' GPAs were computed for all ESL classes taken and for each component--grammar, reading, writing, and speaking/listening--as well as for the end of the first quarter, first year, and second year of academic study. Pearson Coefficient Correlations were then computed for the ESL and academic GPAs. The students were also divided into subgroups based upon gender, nature of academic major (more-verbal or less-verbal), age, nationality (Asian or Middle-Eastern), number of ESL classes taken, amount of previous English-speaking college experience, prior education level, TOEFL score, and PSU entry date. Then mean GPAs were calculated for each of these which were compared by T-tests. The results were mixed. While it was clear that ESL grades and academic grades correlated strongly for some variable groups, it was difficult to determine which variables had the strongest effect because of subgroup composition. For example, female students, students from Asia, and students whose majors fit the more-verbal category showed strong and statistically significant correlations for ESL-second year academic grades; but 90% of the women were from countries of Asia, and the proportion of both Asian and female students in the more-verbal majors was much higher than that of males or students from countries of the Middle East. There were two patterns that stood out in the research results. One was that ESL students who had taken twelve or more ESL classes maintained consistent academic GPAs across time, while those who had taken fewer than twelve ESL classes and all students in the non-ESL group had GPAs that started higher than those of the first group but declined over the two year period--some of them enough to be statistically significant. The second pattern was that groups with strong ESL academic GPA correlations tended to do better in college that did those with weaker ESL-academic GPA relationships. TOEFL scores were correlated to both ESL and academic grades. In the first case, there were both moderately positive and statistically significant relationships. In the second case, the correlations were very low; and for non-ESL students, there was essentially no correlation. But comparing mean academic GPAs showed a significant difference between students who scored below 500 and those who scored 500 and above on the TOEFL.

A participant-observation study was carried out of a centre providing intensive English instruction for newly arrived, migrant adolescents. This study was conducted during a period of fifteen months from late in 1978 to the end of 1979, by which time the Intensive Language Unit had been operating for three and a half years. Part of the study traced the establishment of the Unit as an independent body within the A.C.T. secondary education system. This involved an examination of the process by which the Unit was set up in 1976, and of the context in preceding years of general developments in migrant education throughout Australia and, in particular, those occurring in the A.C.T. Data collected during 1979 dealt with this background and also with the Unit's operation and role in the A.C.T. in 1979. Some of this data was documentary evidence but a considerable part consisted of interview material obtained from key individuals associated with the Unit. From this material was gained an understanding of their perceptions and actions in the establishment and operation of the new institution. Analysis of the data indicated a distinct pattern of continuity in the first years of the Unit's existence. It became apparent that this continuity had been maintained by several factors. These were the existence, from the start, of a clearly defined rationale and the presence at the Unit of a selected group of dedicated teachers who strongly supported it. The outcome was that in 1979 the rationale had become entrenched to such an extent that Unit teachers were prepared to protect the Unit's threatened integrity with considerable effort. It was possible to relate these features of the Unit to the general context in which it emerged. This study revealed how, in the early 1970's, increasing awareness of the inadequacy of migrant education as well as the significant roles of the Schools Commission and the individual who set up the Unit, produced a situation in which the new centre developed its distinctive features which still existed at the end of 1979. A general overview was developed of how a new institution with a high degree of autonomy was introduced into an existing system, of the advantages and difficulties which resulted, and how it was able to maintain its independence and particular character during the early years of its existence.

This study explores storybook illustrations in learning word meanings among English learners in a university intensive language program. The impact of children’s literature on the comprehension and vocabulary development of second language children is well-documented. However, the use of the literature with adults still needs to be researched. Therefore, a mixed-method study was designed (1) to investigate whether readers who read an authentic illustrated story differed from those who read the same story without illustrations; and (2) to learn more about the readers’ process of learning words from storybook illustrations. Results suggest that illustrations play an important role in both comprehending the text and learning individual words, however issues related to the accessibility of the text and readers’ ability to use context should also be taken into consideration. The findings support prior research that the benefits of learning from context take time to become robust. The study suggests that illustrated storybooks provide a rich context for adults to infer word meanings and recommends children’s literature as an alternative source of reading in programs serving adult English learners.

Language instructors play a decisive role in adult language learners' learning and retention of vocabulary through planning, selection, and teaching of vocabulary and strategies. However, some professional language schools lack extensive teacher-training programs that prepare instructors with the skills required to select and teach vocabulary, which results in a gap in practice. The purpose of this study was to explore teacher-related factors in beyond Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Level 2 vocabulary instruction to adults in a classroom setting in intensive language-training programs. The conceptual framework consisted of the theory of noticing hypothesis, synformy, and the comprehensible input hypothesis. Research questions addressed instructors' experiences when teaching vocabulary and synforms, the training they received on how to teach vocabulary, and the resources they need. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 9 language instructors of less-commonly taught languages. Data were analyzed using an open-coding strategy. Results indicated participants were uncertain about their roles in teaching and selecting vocabulary and about the use of strategies and approximate number of words and kinds of words that students require to achieve general proficiency (ILR Level 3). Participants reported they had no systematic approach to teaching vocabulary or synforms. Participants also expressed a desire to receive training on vocabulary learning strategies, evidence-based best practices in teaching vocabulary, and facilitating vocabulary retention. Findings may be used to guide directors of intensive language programs in developing systematic approaches to selecting and teaching vocabulary.

[pt] A tese se dedica à escrita de Guimarães Rosa sob a perspectiva da inarticulação: atenta às ocasiões em que a língua é levada a seu limite intensivo, ao se deixar atravessar sobretudo por vozes animais (grunhir, uivar, grasnar, piar, balir, sibilar, chiar, etc.), ruídos naturais (vento, água, fogo, etc.) e pelo registro musical. Explorando os modos singulares com que Rosa trabalha sonoridades investidas de forças anárquicas e criadoras, o estudo mostra que um dos traços mais relevantes em sua obra é trazer à tona a experiência de inarticulação da linguagem. Tal experiência manifesta-se como lugar privilegiado de desestabilização das fronteiras habitualmente pressupostas entre o que se convencionou chamar, de um lado e de outro, língua e vida - revelando o corpo material da língua como condição irredutível para que se descortinem vínculos intensivos com as coisas através da literatura. O pensamento contido na própria forma como Rosa trabalha a sua língua é posto em diálogo com as reflexões de Gilles Deleuze/Felix Guattari sobre a língua intensiva, e com as considerações de Friedrich Nietzsche acerca da experiência dionisíaca da música. Assim orientada, a tese se compõe de três ensaios. O primeiro aborda a inarticulação da língua na novela Buriti, de Corpo de Baile, em leitura centrada na personagem Chefe Zequiel e nos modos pelos quais sua sensibilidade auditiva prodigiosa capta micro-percepções sonoras da noite e as transfere para uma língua à beira de se tornar guincho, uivo, assovio do vento. O ensaio seguinte mostra o paralelo existente entre o retorno do ruído na música contemporânea, capitaneado pelo músico John Cage, e a invasão da escrita pela infinita gama de sonoridades não dicionarizadas de que se compõe a obra de Guimarães Rosa. Elabora-se ainda, em correlação com a analogia musical aí desenvolvida, uma interpretação da pouco comentada novela A estória do homem do Pinguelo, de Estas Estórias. Por fim, o terceiro ensaio apresenta a aliança entre poesia, música e inarticulação da língua no cerne do projeto literário do escritor mineiro. Oferece-se aí uma visão do processo criativo de Guimarães Rosa como transmutação de forças e afectos presentes nos sons antes da articulação, em uma língua poética em íntimo enlace com a musicalidade. Também se propõem, nessa ocasião, leituras de Cara-de- Bronze, de Corpo de Baile, e de Duelo, de Sagarana. / [en] The present thesis approaches the writing of Guimarães Rosa from the perspective of the inarticulate. It attends to those occasions in which his writing takes language to its intensive limit, at which it incorporates animal noises (grunting, howling, cawing, chirping, bleating, hissing, wheezing), natural sounds (wind, water, fire, etc.), and the musical register. Exploring the singular manner in which Rosa cultivates sonorities invested with anarchical and creative forces, the study shows that one of the most striking aspects of his work is the way it gives voice to the experience of the inarticulate within language. Such an experience manifests itself as a privileged site of destabilization of the traditional frontiers between what is conventionally called language and what is called life. This serves to reveal the material body of language as an irreducible condition for the creation of an intensive connection with life through literature. Rosa s thinking, as it is presented through his writing, is also put into dialogue with Gilles Deleuze s and Felix Guattari s notion of the intensive language and Friedrich Nietzsche s account of the Dionysian experience of music. The thesis consists of three chapters. The first approaches the inarticulate in the novella Buriti, from Corpo de Baile. It focusses on the character Chief Zequiel, who possesses a prodigious auditory sensitivity that allows him to perceive very slight, night-time sounds and convert them into a language that borders on squealing, howling, the whispering of the wind. The following chapter draws parallels between the reintroduction of noise into contemporary music by John Cage in particular and the intrusion of a multitude of non-lexicographic sonorities into Rosa s writing. This musical analogy is also intertwined with an interpretation of the neglected novella, A estória do homem do Pinguelo, from Estas Estórias. The third and final chapter discusses the alliance between poetry, music and inarticulate language at the heart of Rosa s literary oeuvre. It regards his creative process as a transmutation of the pre-articulate forces and affects present in sounds into a poetic language that is intimately intertwined with musicality. Finally, it proposes a reading of Cara-de-bronze from Corpo de Baile and Duelo from Sagarana.