Suggests that an arbitrary placement of young children in bilingual programs without adequate prior assessment to detect actual language needs and competencies may be less productive than immediate English instruction. (RB)

The present paper reports on a study conducted in 1973, designed to measure the English competence and performance of bilingual fourth graders in selected schools in southern Arizona and the extent to which the first language (Spanish) interfered with the second (English). The study also attempted to determine which patterns might yet be unlearned…

This paper discusses three linguistic theories related to communicative competence and English for special purposes in terms of the needs of post-graduate students in Guyarti, India. First, Hymes' theory of communicative competence is understood to be advocating a wider concept of competence than Chomsky's theory. Hymes states that a normal child…

In language instruction, a dependable informational base of fact, experience, or judgment is essential if students are to develop a functional literacy. Yet the language information base in use today--the set of concepts about what language is, how it works, and how individual languages are maintained--has proven inadequate and unreliable. Reform,…

The study prepares the ground for the introduction of a language learning system for adults. Part 1 presents a draft outline of such a system, in which the language material to be learned is organized into units and credits awarded on the completion of each unit. The content is defined with reference to the nature of the learners and their…

A Language-research experiment designed to examine the linguistic competence of bilingual Italian-American children demonstrates that structures shared by Italian and English are acquired in approximately the same order and at the same rate, and that the sequencing of specific structures reflects linguistic complexity. Structures appearing in both…