This paper examines BELF (Business English as a Lingua Franca) teaching and researching in China. A literature review is conducted using the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. This survey includes a cursory literature search on BELF and a thorough literature study of 12 Chinese major academic journals. From the data collected…

Determining the writing skill level of students commencing tertiary education is a key element in predicting their likely study success and in providing appropriate writing development opportunities. Writing tests constructed around written instructions often assume high levels of reading and comprehension skills, which in some instances impose…

Involving students in an active study of dialect differences will enhance their own self awareness and their knowledge and understanding of cultural diversity. (JH)

This report is designed to aid the college instructor preparing prospective English teachers in the area of dialect studies. It includes a general description of the nature of dialect, teaching suggestions, and an extensive annotated bibliography. The articles which make up the report are as follows: "Historical, Regional and Social…

Describes the origins and characteristics of six southern dialects: (1) South Midland; (2) Florida Cracker; (3) Gullah; (4) Southern Black Dialect; (5) Acadian French; and (6) Cajun English. Suggests books representative of each that can be used to introduce these dialects to elementary children. (NH)

The following description sets forth the aims and methodology of a project in Arkansas dialect studies; summarizes the preliminary work being carried on; and outlines the future course of the study. The urgency of the need for such research is pointed out by Moreland: The South is a "formerly distinctive region that is fast losing its…

Designed to interpret and synthesize the existing research and related information about dialects for those people who are involved in teaching a standard English to speakers of other dialects, the information in this report is based on an analysis and synthesis of over 1,250 articles and reports dealing with dialects and dialect learning. The…

The papers in this collection provide a brief state-of-the-art statement on the role of non-standard dialects of English in education and on some implications of the Ann Arbor decision. The following papers are included: (1) "Vernacular Black English: Setting the Issues in Time," by Roger W. Shuy; (2) "Beyond Black English:…

No evidence was found to indicate that grammatical reading interference is an important factor in the poor reading achievement of Black youngsters. (JH)

Two functional dialects possessed by the same person must function concurrently in the education of the disadvantaged. The problems involved are discussed. (Editor)

This monograph deals with one of the most difficult problems facing the schools--the language patterns which mark one social class from another. The "Cautionary Foreword" points out that teachers have long tried to "correct" the speech of students whose dialects were nonstandard, without much sense of how language is learned or…

This paper reviews how various nonstandard dialects of English may influence written products and how writing may be taught to speakers of such dialects. Sections of the literature review focus on the speech patterns of black English, of other English dialects, and of other languages, and on how these patterns manifest themselves in written…

A group of 46 students from a remedial English workshop at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College were subjects in a study to determine whether linguistically oriented teaching methods more effectively corrected writing errors of black dialect speakers than traditional teaching methods (using "The MacMillan Handbook"). An effort was…

A report from the Educational Resources Information Center at the Center for Applied Linguistics; describes the bi-dialectal approach to second dialect acquisition; ERIC abstracts are included for documents pertinent to this topic. (SW)

This article discusses the various dialects of English spoken in Liberia and analyzes the problems of Liberian students in writing compositions in English. Errors arise mainly from differences in culture and cognition, not from superficial linguistic problems. (CFM)