Communication is a critical component of effective healthcare. Students interested in going into healthcare fields require training to learn how to effectively communicate. These students have a need to learn communication skills. Understanding students' value for learning these skills is necessary for increasing the motivation to learn. In this…

Learner corpus research has expanded from focusing primarily on English as a second language (L2) to include languages such as L2 Spanish, reflecting the growing importance of corpus linguistics in second language acquisition (SLA) research. In this context, and because prompts are the means by which learner corpora gather their texts, it has…

Creole-speaking contexts are significantly underrepresented in language and literacy research yet present a unique context for understanding the nature of language and literacy development among numerous learners in the Global South. In the Caribbean in particular, the poor writing outcomes of Creole speakers across all levels of education has…

This article introduces critical dialogue exercises, a pedagogical practice that links contemplation, rhetorical listening, and writing with directed storytelling in an effort to raise student consciousness about potentially oppressive histories embedded in our everyday language practices and to encourage social justice oriented discursive action.…

The language shortcuts used in text messages are becoming evident in students' academic writing assignments. This qualitative study sought to determine if the use of the shortcuts has an adverse impact on developmental students' spelling and grammar skills. This research was based on the constructivist theory, which rationalizes that students use…

Discusses research and theory related to journal writing and provides a rationale for including it in the language arts classroom. (FL)

Offers a writing exercise, based on a comic-strip theme, that teachers can use to relieve tensions between them and their students while developing students' expressive writing skills. (RL)

Describes a synonym exercise--composing an essay without using the verbs "be,""have,""go," or "get"--which increases students' awareness of at least six different language features. (MM)

Notes the unintentional humor so often found in directions. Describes an assignment on writing directions carefully--and the humorous results. (RL)

Discusses "January Morning," a poem of William Carlos Williams, wherein the 15 sections come in no apparent order and are "unparallel" (varied in content, tone, length, etc.). Finds the language colloquial and conversational, with casual notation. States the poem, with its free format, can be used successfully in college poetry…

Describes how a short exercise in designing greeting cards for a "Teacher Appreciation Day" helps student identify and analyze the four components of rhetoric--purpose, content, persona, and audience. Includes samples of students' greeting card messages. (MM)

Argues that writing for the media is utilitarian (not formal) writing, and that slang is acceptable when it conveys meaning. Argues that student journalists need to learn how to analyze slang so they know when to use it and when to avoid it. Offers advice for teachers, and includes two exercises for students on slang. (SR)

Some insights into the nature of functional grammar can be useful for teachers of composition. There are four ways that functional grammar stands in opposition to common linguistics in the United States. First, for functionalists (those practicing functional grammar), the starting point is with kinds of meanings, not with kinds of structures; the…

Suggests a set of sequenced writing assignments based on language use. Argues that language study involves learning how to observe as much as observing something particular. (MS)

Describes a 10-week workshop at an alternative high school in New York City that explored how words come into a language and that involved students in writing their own reference books of words not yet in any dictionary (their "personal dictionaries"). Contains a 22-item annotated dictionary source list. (RS)