A generation or two ago, the achievement of children who came to school knowing little or no English was not a prominent national issue. Today, with the increased focus on school accountability and educational equity, it is. This comprehensive resource explores the research on promoting academic success among language-minority students. The…

Gives examples of the interference of legal English on legal French, particularly in translation and business administration. (AM)

The role of context in language is so obvious that, paradoxically, it often goes unnoticed by students who are studying it. Newspaper headlines (real and contrived) can be used to demonstrate to students the context dependency of language. The simplest version of such a demonstration takes 5 minutes; the longest version takes about 20 minutes.…

Serving as a way to sum up or apply many of the principles students have been studying in a general semantics course, a unit on advertising language is devoted to examining how advertisers select language for its affective and directive uses. The unit shows how language is used to stimulate consumer interest in a product and often to mask the lack…

This pamphlet reports on a project in Tasmania exploring whether the "natural learning conditions" approach to language learning could be adapted for mathematics. The connections between language and mathematics, as well as the natural learning processes of language learning are described in the pamphlet. The project itself is…

When introducing doublespeak in the classroom, there is a great temptation to pose as the good guy exposing the lying words of all the powerful bad guys. To a degree teachers should do this. But they cannot stop there, for it implies a posture of moral superiority. A solution to this problem is to focus on questions of choice and to be aware of…

Describes a language arts project which used students' own first names as the project theme. (DD)

Traces the history of the development of ecclesiastical law, and describes some of the difficulties in modern day translation of the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church. (AM)

Describes a three-week "Introduction to Language" unit for seventh graders. Notes that students feel ownership of the unit because of the amount of choice and sharing involved. Describes the unit's mini-lessons: human language; origins and development of language; symbols and words; meaning in context; and growth and change in language. (RS)

Describes the way one teacher utilizes a variety of activities by which the power of language is analyzed and fostered among students of English. Describes methods for engaging students in language play, specifically through the use of puns. (HB)

This book is a discussion of teaching as learning--rooted in the author's personal history as a teacher and learner, and offered as one story among many to help other teachers ask questions about their own practice. The book is not intended to be a manual or a step-by-step guide for use in the classroom. Instead, it emphasizes the triumphs that…

Defines language awareness, examines shifts in meaning which words undergo, and discusses how this topic can be applied in education. (DD)

Describes several successful lessons that provide students with new awareness of the English language. Includes lessons focusing on language change, onomatopoeia, slang, word origin, dialect, and language functions. (MM)

Examines the role in the English curriculum being given to both written and oral language. Asserts that oral language currently has little or no role in that curriculum. Claims that this misguided situation must change. Suggests ways by which orality can be given its rightful place in the English curriculum. (HB)

Intended for adults in search of improved language skills and their leaders, this handbook provides opportunities to strengthen abilities to listen, observe, organize, solve problems, evaluate, and draw tentative conclusions about the English language. The handbook contains a proposition about the English language, suggests procedures to confirm…