The teaching activities presented in this document have been selected from a series of language study units prepared for teachers by the Queensland Language Development Project task force as part of the Studytalk project. They focus on inquiring into some of the varieties of language most accessible to teachers and students. In each of the three…

This article provides suggestions for generating real conversation in the foreign language classroom. Garfinkel suggests using cameras for students to take pictures to talk about, and Gillett suggests that students be involved in the preparation, operation and display of media. Conner advocates round table discussions, language games, and panel…

Part of the Grade Teacher Special report, "Linguistics and the Language Arts.

Typically, teachers approach ambiguity in student writing by suggesting that students focus on diction, syntax, and writing format; however, the works of modernists (including T.S. Eliot, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Karl Marx, and Pablo Picasso) suggest the importance of conceptions of semantic clarity. Transformational models for syntactic elements in…

THE SCOPE OF THE NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM CENTER'S RESEARCH PROGRAM IN TEACHING COMPOSITION TO THE BEGINNING WRITER IS DEFINED IN THE EIGHT PAPERS COMPRISING THIS COLLECTION. THE TOPICS FOR THE PAPERS ARE--(1) LIMITING THE AIMS OF TEACHING COMPOSITION IN THE SEVENTH- AND EIGHTH-GRADES TO INCLUDE ONLY NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE WRITING AND…

Answers to questions asked of college freshman composition students indicated that one-third lacked confidence in their ability to write because of their ignorance of the rules of grammar and inability to use correct grammar. This may be a result of the textbook presentation of grammar as a straightforward set of rules to be mastered without…

The role of language structure in the classroom is discussed, and the limitations of the formal analysis of language is enumerated. It is argued that most language problems derive not from difficulties with language form, but from covert differences in value which are characteristically associated with those forms. Examples are given of conflicts…

Language learners want to communicate with others about the sort of things that interest them. Nearly everybody is interested in playing games. Many language games are kept going by communication and break down if communication itself does so. Four types of game are described to illustrate this point: guessing games, certain number games, games…

An attempt is made in this book to state some of the features of and dispel some of the myths about nonstandard English, particularly the dialects of English spoken by many black Americans, and to consider alternative policies that might be adopted regarding varied forms of English. The chapters of the book include "What Is the Problem?""Is…

Black English Vernacular (BEV) is spoken in more or less pure form by many, if not most, of the inner-city students attending college under plans like open enrollment. In cities, most blacks, Puerto Ricans, and many other non-native speakers speak or can speak a form of BEV. The prevalence of BEV in elementary and secondary schools of the inner…

This packet is designed to help give inservice training on the topic of individualizing bilingual and ESL instruction. It is hoped that the packet will minimize the preparation time needed and will allow inservice trainers to benefit from the experience of other staff members. The first section of the packet consists of an introduction to…

The purpose of this article is to focus attention on the need to teach language students not only what to say, but how to say it and when. A theoretical discussion provides linguistic background and analysis of data and a sample lesson to illustrate how sociolinguistic theory can be applied to the development of teaching materials. (Author/NCR)

Reports on an experiment in school radio broadcasting, in 7th and 8th grade classes in a Munich school. Subsequent tests showed that the use of school broadcasting produced better results in the target area (learning and using polite formulas) than conventional instruction. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Proposes a new way of discussing the writing process by drawing a line between Piaget's cognitive egocentrism and Vygotsky's inner speech. (FL)

Describes an action research project in which primary school teachers helped their minority group students attend to the cohesive elements of texts as well as the conceptual context. (FL)