The author has always had an appreciation of language--its rhythms, sounds, wordplay, dialects, usage variations, and powers to manipulate. Reflecting on how she came to this appreciation, she remembers her father reciting poems to her when she was a little girl. She was enthralled by the rhythm, the rhyme, and the sounds of the words--both…

This article explores problems with the trend of business language making its way into schools and provides strategies for how to address this issue.

Teachers certainly appreciate the importance of an inviting classroom environment. The money spent on posters, the greeting at the classroom door, and the time invested in learning students' names all help to create a sense of community, and students who feel they belong are more likely to do their best work. No teacher would deliberately exclude…

This article shows how students confront offensive language head-on by researching its history and reconsidering its use in contemporary conversation. It describes an assignment in which students study the histories and social reception of words (in some cases considered obscenities) used to insult people of various social categories. Students…

Considers language as an art form. Compares language to the visual impact of seeing colors and sights, art, and all that is sensory. (RL)

Provides examples of doublespeak which show that its use has increased since the Committee on Public Doublespeak was established 14 years ago. Points out that English teachers must teach respect for and love of language to instill in students a sense of outrage when they encounter doublespeak. (ARH)

Discusses attitude a well-informed, liberal minded teacher should take toward the use of slang by students in oral and written communication in the classroom. (Author)

Describes several successful lessons that provide students with new awareness of the English language. Includes lessons focusing on language change, onomatopoeia, slang, word origin, dialect, and language functions. (MM)

Proposes that in the quest for truth, teachers and students concern themselves with the prevalence of information overload, euphemisms, and doublespeak. (JL)

Reviews William Lutz's book "Doublespeak: From 'Revenue Enhancement' to 'Terminal Living'--How Government, Business, Advertisers, and Others Use Language to Deceive You." (KEH)

Considers the right students have to the use of their own idiom in the classroom. Gives a historical overview of the 1974 "Students' Right" document prepared by the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Calls for a new view of language among English teachers. (HB)

Offers suggestions, exercises, and resources for teaching students how to study and appreciate language. (RL)

Looks at the experience of a "Foreign Expert," assigned to teach English composition and literature in China. Explores the "meanings" of reading and writing following a tradition of Chinese scholarship that holds to the belief that language is meaning. (JK)