The purpose of this study was to delineate the implications of language within an educational context as a means of facilitating self-actualization. Three premises identified in a priori fashion were drawn from the literature in linguistics, psychology, and general semantics, creating a three-part language continuum--acquisition, development, and…

This study compared the vocabulary of the period from 1943 to 1945 to the vocabulary of 1975. In addition to a direct comparison of word use, an indirect comparison was made using Thorndike's word list in the "Teacher's Word Book" (1931). The 1975 vocabulary, based on frequency of word appearance, was derived from 93 speeches made by students in…

This study investigated semantic aspects of children's language as it is related to emotional expression. Children's ratings of vocabulary items categorized as expressing happy, sad, loving, angry, confident, and scared feelings were examined in three different ways: in isolation, in verbal contexts, and accompanying pictures of emotional…

This dissertation provides a heuristic model for defining, analyzing, and exemplifying the artistic dimension of black English. Further, it offers a method of recognizing and evaluating this aspect of verbal behavior for the purpose of strengthening curriculum development and methods of instruction. After a review of the literature that deals with…

Since the beginning of man's awareness of his language capabilities and language structure, he has assumed that speech is composed of discrete entities. The linguist attempts to establish a model of the workings of these distinctive sounds in a language. Utilizing an historical basis for discussion, this general survey of the distinctive feature…

This study was conducted to investigate the hypothesis that science teaching, properly done, could have an effect on language usage among elementary school students. A population of 14 fourth-grade classrooms was randomly divided into experimental and control groups. All teachers attended workshops for 90 minutes every two weeks throughout the…

This paper brings together modern linguistic theory (particularly transformational-Generative analysis), psycholinguistic research, and educational objectives underlying the teaching of language in order to develop a methodology compatible with the philosophy of "the New English." Based on the premise that at its best, the New English is…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the awareness and application of Black English features by writers and producers of materials for young children which represent black characters in a fictive setting. The study was limited to materials which were available to inner city children in Cleveland, Ohio, through libraries. Fifty-three fiction…

This master's thesis focuses on publications resulting from the Dartmouth Seminar, an international conference of English teachers held at Dartmouth College during August and September of 1966 in which the fifty participants advocated changes in the teaching of English to correspond with world-wide technological advances. Following an introductory…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between students' ability to recover deep structures, as measured by the Sentence Comprehension Subtest (SCS) of the SRA Reading Index, and their reading comprehension as measured by the Reading Progress Scale (RPS). All 11th grade students in Hillsborough High School, Belle Mead, New…

This thesis proposes a philosophical foundation for literary instruction, based on several theories and philosophies of language and literature and on studies of student response to literature. Burke submits that literary art and common language uses find their origins in man's unique proclivity for creating symbols. Church agrees, arguing that…

This report describes a program for developing and improving critical thinking skills in adolescents in order to prepare them for life-long learning. The targeted population consisted of high school math and social studies students from two middle-class communities located in northern Illinois. The students' lack of critical thinking skills was…

This dissertation examines the basis for adoption and development of elective English programs in the school district of Philadelphia's 21 comprehensive senior high schools. Personal, structured, executive interviews conducted in the work setting with English department heads were the source of data for the study. It was hypothesized that elective…

This paper addresses the literary canon surrounding the nineteenth century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, in order to inform philosophy librarians as to the nature of the particular body of literature. Using the "Philosopher's Index" database to locate all the Nietzschean literature published between 1986 and 1995, defining…

This report describes a program for improving students' comprehension of the language of mathematical problems. The targeted population consists of 5th and 6th grade multi-age students and multi-age learners with special needs at a middle school located outside a major city in a Midwestern community. Evidence for the existence of this problem…