This paper explores the relationship between content-based second language instruction and so-called communicative language teaching and traces the development of syllabus design for second language courses from its emergence as an issue in the mid ’70s to the present day. The paper argues that content, when combined with a concern for communicative function and grammatical structure, provides the missing third dimension in syllabus design for second language courses and generates course designs superior to those based on structure alone or on some combination of structure and function. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the problems in, and the prospects for, developing this kind of syllabus for such courses.

This paper reports on a study investigating the literacy practices, attitudes, and uses of two groups of subjects: Chinese (n=35) and Korean (n=26); it examines the relationship between each group’s practices, attitudes, and uses and success in reading in a second language (English). Results of the research suggest: (a) literacy attitudes, practices, and uses can be seen to vary cross-culturally; (b) that cultural group appears to be a factor in determining attitudes about reading and reading behaviors; (c) differences in attitude, practice, and use in the first language have implications for literacy behavior in the second language; and (d) that second language reading success may be related to certain first language attitudes and behaviors that seem to be characteristic of the groups under study