Compares teachers' estimates of spontaneous language with direct observations of performance of developmentally delayed preschool children in classroom situations. Teachers tended to be more accurate in their estimation of children with higher spontaneous language frequencies and to underestimate the frequency of spontaneous language in other…

This article considers arguments for and against the use of coding systems in classroom-based language research and touches on some relevant considerations from ethnographic and conversational analysis approaches. The four authors each explain and elaborate on their practical decision to code or not to code events or utterances at a specific point…

This study examined the correspondence between spoken English and Australasian Signed English when used simultaneously by four teachers of deaf Australian students. The teachers were more than 90 percent accurate in reproducing on their hands what they were saying but at some cost to the oral aspects of the simultaneous communication. (Author/JDD)

A language evaluation instrument was devised to assess the accuracy of program implementation by teachers of four Australian preschool programs. The Teacher Language Instrument (TLI) categorizes each verbal episode of a teaching interchange for both mode and function. Five general mode categories of teacher language behavior--statements,…

A study examined the conversations of eight groups of high school students in a level three Spanish class during a jigsaw speaking task, and compared their language use patterns with those of intermediate-level learners of English as a Second Language. Results suggest both similarities and differences. Choice of language is also considered. (17…

Using a comparative and historical approach, this paper examines linguistic perspectives on minority education, specifically language-based explanations for the reading problems of working class minority group students. The paper first discusses the ways in which competence and performance theories of language treat the relation between language…

This study investigated the nature of students' discussion in peer response sessions in an English-as-a-Second-Language composition class in Taiwan. Subjects were 17 university students, divided into four writing groups. Half of the 16 peer response sessions were computer-mediated (CM), the other half in face-to-face interaction (FF). Analysis of…

A study was conducted at an American university to collect data on how native English-speaking students asked questions in class. The data were analyzed for use of syntactic forms, formulaic expressions or prefatory comments, terms of address, functions fulfilled by the questions, and politeness markers. The results were then compared with the…

Papers on foreign language education include: "Beliefs About Language Learning: A Study of Korean University Students Learning English" (Susan N. Truitt), which looked at the influence of cultural background and experience on language learning attitudes; "Motivation as a Two-Sided Coin: Motivational Differences Between College-Level…

Reports a study of students' class participation in eight law schools, focusing on the language and dynamics of classroom interaction of a culturally diverse student population. Results indicate that race and gender have an effect on student inclusion in law school classes, but patterning is complex and involves the interaction of other factors in…

The selection of papers from the 6th Annual International Conference on Pragmatics and Language Learning (Urbana, Illinois, April 1992) include: "Discourse Markers Across Language" (Bruce Fraser); "Conjunction and Causality: Pragmatics and the Lexicon" (Yael Ziv); "Situated Discourse: The Sociocultural Context of…