Students feel more comfortable in a new language when they understand its jokes. And when the jokes are puns, they build metalinguistic awareness. This article describes four categories of English puns--soundalike puns, lookalike puns, close-sounding puns, and texting puns--and suggests how they can be incorporated into English language…

This study explored how four groups of English learners used a mobile software application developed by the researcher for learning idiomatic expressions and collocations. A total of 45 learners in the study used the application for a period of one week. Data for this study was collected from a questionnaire, the application, and follow-up…

Collocation is an aspect of language generally considered arbitrary by nature and problematic to L2 learners who need collocational competence for effective communication. This study attempts, from the perspective of L2 learners, to have a deeper understanding of collocational use and some of the problems involved, by adopting a task based…

New thinking is needed in the field of English language teaching as the Bullock Committee's report has shown. This article advances the idea that something could be learned from the approaches adopted by teachers of English as a foreign language. (Editor)

After teaching the basic suprasegmental patterns, an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher can profitably continue with those other patterns which are useful in distinguishing meanings and whose absence on the printed page will sometimes result in double meaning. (Author/JM)

An examination of ERIC documents pertinent to this topic; a preprint from a forthcoming publication of the National Conference on Research in English. (Editor/RD)

FRANCISCO ARCELLANA'S "THE MATS," LIKE ANY WELL-CONSTRUCTED SHORT STORY, CAN SERVE AS AN IMPORTANT TEACHING DEVICE IN GUIDING STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE LEARNING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE, TO READ WITH UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION, THE TECHNIQUES OF CONVERTING VERBALS BACK INTO VERBS, REPLACING ALL PRONOUNS WITH THEIR ANTECEDENTS IN PARALLEL…

This curriculum framework for adult literacy was written by 21 South Carolina adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instructors, as submitted to the South Carolina Literacy Resource Center. It is based on current theories in the fields of adult education and second language acquisition and is designed to be flexible so that it may be adapted to…

A discussion of what functional linguistic research can offer teachers of composition and English is presented in this paper, which provides examples of different levels of analysis (phonology, morphology, and syntax) for the language of a variety of populations (including traditional freshmen, basic writers, English as a second language (ESL)…

Designed to help instructors become aware of factors that may interfere with teaching composition to Mexican-American students, this paper surveys research findings about attitudes toward Spanish-speaking persons in the United States and about language patterns and attitudes of Mexican Americans. It then briefly recommends techniques for working…

These volumes (with tests) on constructing effective English sentences are designed for secondary students who do not often hear standard dialects--e.g., the deaf, the disadvantaged, or the speakers of English as a second language. Transformational-generative grammar is used to describe the structures and operations that the student most needs.…

Physical Verbalization (PV) is a program designed to encourage language/speech development by combining movement with appropriate verbal patterns. Using the normal developmental stages of listening/watching, imitating, and initiating, the program allows the child to "play" with standard English in a nonthreatening and rhythmic fashion and to be…

This paper examines the factors which govern the use of infinitives and gerunds after verbs and uses American literature and periodicals since 1945 for examples of this usage. The analysis was undertaken in order to clarify this usage for those teaching or learning English as a second language. Studies yielded three general rules for the use of…

This English pronunciation manual for adults was developed by teachers for teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL), specifically aimed at those who do not have training in linguistics or foreign language instruction. It is a compendium of methodologies used by ESL teachers and is not aimed at any particular foreign language learner.…