Language educators need to consider whether the goal for learning English as a foreign language is to be bookish "correctness" or something approaching the competence and performance of at least moderately well-educated native speakers. Grammatical usages and pronunciations are considered and comparisons with other languages are made. (SW)

Describes the phonology, grammar and semantics of Technical English in India. Interference from the mother tongue and from Common English is also discussed. (KM)

The teacher of English to non-native speakers needs information not available in a descriptive English grammar. This article examines the teacher's grammatical needs with reference to article usage in English and proposes an outline of one section of such a teaching grammar. Items discussed are "a,""the,""-s" and "some." (CHK)

Examines various approaches to textual description, and argues that the Prague model provides the most adequate criteria for describing communicative dynamism in, for example, narrative, descriptive, or discussion style. (AM)

Task-specific language demands should be established by study of language in use on the job. The main components of the Casualty doctor's communicative competence must be specified, and the course in English for Special Purposes must reflect these components in its simulations. (CFM)

A study based on recordings of oral information given to the public at information desks. On the basis of the study, sociolinguistic rules valid for the manner of initiating conversation in like situations are derived. Suggestions are offered for the use of such data in foreign language classes. (AMH)

The differences between the use speakers make of a language in different areas of a country, or in one social class as opposed to another, are nowadays recognized as essential parts of a description of a language. Progress beyond the elementary stage of language acquisition requires the development of sensitivity to the appropriateness of language…

Discusses the literature on interference as the cause of errors in second language speech. A study is reported which shows that interference by the native language is most often the factor responsible for the largest number of mistakes in grammar and vocabulary. (Author/AMH)

An analysis of the written compositions of German students (aged 16+, in their fourth or sixth year of English as a foreign language) with regard to their use of the progressive form. Four problem areas are enumerated, and it is suggested that these be included in pedagogic grammars. (KM)

Discusses two basic areas of difference between British and American English, namely the complementation of certain participles and the complementation of certain verbs. Complementation after "concerned" and "interested" is illustrated by several examples taken from speech and from newspaper advertisements. (AMH)

Discusses the differences in power among people of all societies, which are reflected by pronoun usage (or other grammatical indications) or, in the case of English, by some other linguistic means. Since English can no longer distinguish solidarity and power by means of pronouns, it relies on the use of first names and titles to accomplish the…

How does the lack of articles in Russian influence the distinction between restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses? The problem is discussed in comparison with German. Russian disposes only of facultative, but nonambiguous instruments. Certain determiners allow a precise differentiation between two kinds of relative clauses. (Text is in…

Misunderstandings and impoliteness can occur among people from different countries because of differences in cultures and languages. Observations about British, American, and other European cultures concern set phrases, word connotations, intonation, forms of address and reference, grammar, and nonverbal behavior. (SW)

Presents a grid for analyzing language learning materials based on certain sociolinguistic criteria. (CLK)

A set of five noun features proposed by Chomsky for characterizing the selectional restriction of English verbs are examined. Examples are presented to show how the "small" set of features is both "too broad" and "too narrow" at once. (SW)