Sixty-two quantitative, lexical, and syntactic features in a corpus of 160 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) texts were identified and counted, producing 28 text variables that were compared with ESL proficiency levels of the writers. Results suggest pedagogical implications for ESL composition instructors. (Contains 12 references.) (LB)

Urges the combination of grammatical instruction with pragmatic spoken usage in the teaching of language. (LG)

Urging that the structure of written English must be approached systematically if good readers are to be produced, the author describes a transformationally oriented technique designed to introduce advanced students to the structure of educated written English. Examples of materials are included. (Author/FB)

The technique explained here can increase a foreign student's awareness of English grammatical and rhetorical structures. Structural paraphrase is a syntactic reformulation of difficult phrases with minimal vocabulary changes. The technique is illustrated and suggestions are given for class presentation. (CHK)

In a survey, 130 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students were asked to describe the meanings of English tenses in terms of time concepts used in ESL grammar texts. Results suggest that grammar teaching utilizing descriptions of time accepted in English-speaking communities to explain usages and meanings of English tenses can limit learner…

Paper presented at the 1972 TESOL Conference in Washington, D.C. (DD)

Describes difficulties with nominalization and with the rhetoric of scientific papers experienced by English of Science and Technology (EST) students, relating nominalization occurrence to scientific rhetorical divisions. Finding significant differences in that-nominal construction frequency between rhetorical sections, suggests coordinating…

Suggests that for improving syntactic fluency and the overall quality of compositions, exercises should be based on generative rhetoric. These exercises in which students supply the content of the sentence from a list of suggested structures are superior to sentence-combining exercises that provide the student with all the information. (PMJ)

Suggests that the syndicated columns published under the by-lines Dear Abby" and Ann Landers" contain useful textual material for intermediate and advanced English-as-a-second-language students. (VM)

Illustrates a stategy for teaching vocabulary, using a computer-held corpus of native speakers' contextualized utterances of each word. The purpose is for the learner to develop lexical competence, that is, the ability to use a word syntactically, semantically, and pragmatically. Verbs are the focus of these materials although other parts of…

The relationship between writing and reading linking prescriptive and contrastive rhetoric, textual discourse analysis, ESP text research, and psycholinguistics and reading is examined. The chief axioms stressed for writers are planning and using discourse devices. How these can be translated into reading strategies is demonstrated. (PMJ)

Discusses the theoretical foundation for sentence combining exercises for intermediate and advanced students in English as a second language (ESL) composition classes. A description is given of a three-stage sequencing of exercises, each successive stage corresponding to a less-controlled level within Paulston's framework of mechical, meaningful,…