Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro

The Use of Tense-Aspect Morphology in Spanish Oral Narratives: Exploring the Perceptions of Advanced Learners.

In a study of the use of verbal morphology in oral narratives by advanced learners of Spanish, eight participants recounted two oral narratives, one a segment of a silent film and the other a personal experience. The learners then commented, in an immediate retrospective protocol, on their use of perfective and imperfective morphology. The reported reasons for their selection of aspectual morphology can be grouped into four categories: (1) the nature of the narrative task, (2) lexical aspect, (3) the role of the narrator in constructing discourse, and (4) the impact of instruction. Some of the reasons for tense-aspect morphological selections have implications for research methodology in future studies on the acquisition and use of tense-aspect morphology, while others invite reflection on teaching practices and on the role and utility of teaching and learning grammatical rules.

Reviewing the Reviews: A Modest History of Policies and Practices.

This essay traces the history of MLJ editorial policies and practices as seen in the reviews section, traced mainly through the voices of the MLJ editors. These editorial messages reveal the role of the editor in shaping the function of the reviews and also provide a window on the issues and events that each generation of editors deemed important enough to merit public exposure. As shown in graphic displays, the reviews section reflects the history of the foreign language teaching and learning field in the 20th century in the distribution of the reviews across languages and topics, as well as trends over time. The essay concludes by considering the current issues and challenges for the reviews section and also possible future directions for this part of the MLJ.