Though this exercise was originally designed for a first year course in women's studies that emphasizes representations of girls and women, it is also entirely appropriate to students considering matters of gender and sexuality in the fields of media studies, communications, sociology, political science, and cultural studies. This teaching…

Discusses translation problems resulting from semantic differences in legal and sociopolitical vocabulary, and the translator's responsibility in exposing erroneous or false presuppositions found in the source document. (AM)

Discusses the dichotomy between legal terminology and legal discourse, and its implications for translation. (AM)

Presents two brief language stories and critical literacy lessons to offer a space for considering the different literacies, knowledge, and power constructed through different language use. Demonstrates the literacies are made possible by more powerful discourses such as critical literacy. (RS)

Discusses Mikhail Bakhtin's vision of the continuous affluence of language and claims it celebrates the polymeric nature of discourse as opposed to the traditional triangular paradigm which proves hopelessly inadequate.

Suggests activities for teaching proverbs, an important part of the cultural education of second language learners. Activities include identifying proverbs in common discourse, creating skits and cartoons or pictures based on them, creating puzzles, inventing original proverbs, and analyzing their practical value. (MSE)

Presents data which shows, in a systematic and objective way, how the same speaker can express the same meaning in a variety of ways depending upon the social situation. Such data offer the teacher of English a basis for discussing some of the linguistic features involved in this variation. (Author/PJM)

Explores some of the possibilities and problems of teaching secondary school students about genocide through the study of language used to describe the event. Focuses on Eastern Europe during the Stalin era when a catastrophe known as the "Holodomor" occurred. (PA)

Focuses on discourses in the classroom. Presents three simple steps to ensure that students' voices are heard and valued. Suggests that educators educate themselves about the many existing Discourses (ways of behaving, speaking, reading and writing accepted by specific groups of people), value student contributions by using their Discourses as…

Students learn, understand, and retain knowledge best when they discover it themselves. In the area of semantics, the study of how meaning is conveyed through language, explicit knowledge may appear to be obvious once it becomes conscious, but unless people are explicitly aware of their implicit knowledge and assumptions, they may be at their…

A class "on" metaphor can be usefully distinguished from a class "in" metaphor. A class on metaphor concentrates on metaphor theory and function. To teach in metaphor would be to coach students in pragmatics, to guide them in the study of how key metaphors are used and help to structure discrete universes of discourse. For…

Introduces the concept of powerful/powerless talk for instructors interested in incorporating this construct in their classrooms. Provides a brief summary of powerful/powerless talk literature. Offers guidelines for introducing these research findings into the curriculum. (AEW)

A teaching technique used in a short course in reading scientific and technical Russian without previous Russian language experience is described. A special grammar-and-dictionary is used in a rule-governed manner to produce semi-automatically a sentence-for-sentence analysis of specialized texts. (MSE)

Four ideas for French language instruction are described, including an exercise in summarizing or retelling something told to one; an exercise in descriptive and expressive language; an exploration of the different uses of the word "cadre"; and activities related to coffee in different cultures. (MSE)

Fifty-five structures of the Chinese language are described and their particular usage patterns are discussed for the use of teachers, linguists, and advanced students of Chinese. Each structure is listed by its major structural element(s), its grammatical element(s), or a combination of the two. The examination of each structure consists of an…