This commentary proposes the metaphor of "languaging-as-practice" in science education as an alternative to "language-as-tool" metaphors. Describing language as a tool implicitly positions language as static and unchanging and assumes that named languages are distinct and bounded entities. In contrast, describing languaging as…

The majority of people around the world live in multilingual societies, and so it follows that plurilingualism should be considered normal. This book proposes a flexible and adaptive framework for designing and implementing language learning environments and tasks, which will be useful for practitioners working in classrooms where many languages…

This paper discussed Cross-Linguistic Transfer (CLT) and Language Proficiency in multilingual education in general and highlighted samples of CLT in Burundi as the existing literature reveals. As there exist CLT on all linguistic levels, this discussion has provided examples of phonological (including phonetics), lexical and semantic, and…

While freedom of speech is a defining characteristic of the United States, the First Amendment right is often regulated within certain environments. For years, schools have attempted to monitor and regulate student communication both within the educational environment and in student use of social media and other online communication tools.…

Spanish language teachers are encouraged to introduce popular sayings, figures of speech, and proverbs into the language curriculum, both as a means of maintaining the usage of the expressions and to bring variety to the language taught. Definitions, characteristics, origins, and general uses of such expressions are outlined. Some of the most…

A discussion of approaches for teaching foreign language vocabulary is based on the distinction between "declarative knowledge" of the meanings of words and the procedures used for achieving this declarative knowledge. These procedures form part of individuals' knowledge of how to negotiate meaning. It is proposed that a communicative view of the…

The French law proposed in February 1994 concerning the proper use of the French language in France is discussed. The law's content, intent, and origins are described, including the history of legislation concerning regulation of French since 1539. Public opinion concerning regulation of the language is examined. (MSE)

An item discriminability study of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Language Skills tests identified test items that are robust discriminators, psychometrically capable of separating low scorers from higher scorers in the language tests battery. The analysis was conducted by calculating a point-biserial correlation for each item on the four language…

Patterns of use of the French particles "bon, (eh) ben, and enfin" were analyzed in a corpus of spontaneous multispeaker conversation. Results show that each particle marks a particular type of discontinuity in the discourse. Turn-initial and turn-medial patterns are described for each. (17 references) (Author/MSE)

Examines American Sign Language (ASL) in the context of the orality/literacy debate and issues of language and cognition. Posits that ASL is a natural language independent of English, and asserts that examining other modes of language use can illuminate the nature of discourse in both oral and written forms. (MM)

Linguistics can make major contributions to the undergraduate liberal arts curriculum, as exemplified in the relationship between linguistics and the English curriculum. The major points of contact between English and linguistics are the areas of stylistics and poetics. In the study of English, linguistics can enrich descriptions of texture…

A morphological analysis of a French language corpus focuses on patterns of truncation, shortened versions of multisyllabic words, in modern spoken usage and in the language used in newspapers. Specific examples of truncation are included.(MSE)

This paper argues that separation of mathematics from most other disciplines in the college curriculum reinforces math avoidance among college students, and that this is inappropriate in general education. Ways in which mathematics and mathematical thinking can be integrated into the humanities are discussed, including the role of mathematics in…

Criticisms of the whole-language approach (WL) to English-as-a-Second-language teaching are addressed, focusing on concerns about reading and grammar instruction. Criticism of grammar instruction is refuted, arguing that WL does not view grammatical knowledge as prerequisite to language use. A modification of the WL approach to reading instruction…

An approach to writing instruction in a second language begins with a look at the different functions of oral and written language and proceeds to an analysis of stylistic differences. A number of examples are offered from French textbooks, letters, and excerpts from speech used on television. (MSE)