Describes a set of criteria for selection of core vocabulary, with examples given from English. Suggests applications for such a vocabulary in grading reading materials and analyzing stylistics. (LMO)

Illustrates the use of narratology to help foreign language students see the interplay between form and content in their target language literature. (CB)

Native Spanish speakers learning English as a second language, asked to mimic an American speaking Spanish with an American accent, displayed a tacit awareness of English-Spanish sound distinctions and, in particular, allophonic differences. (Author/CB)

Contrasts the narrative strategies of two books, Carol Gilligan's "In a Different Voice" and George Eliot's "The Mill on the Floss." Argues that the narrative voice of both is similar, but Eliot has a clearer realization of the limits imposed on women's voice. Gilligan counsels synthesis of the male and female voice, but Eliot…

The descriptions of a terrorist attack on a Paris restaurant--an audio recording of a juvenile eyewitness, an audio recording of a researcher reading a text about the event, and a newspaper account--are compared for discourse characteristics. (MSE)

Describes three experiments that show that when requesting information, speakers estimate the greatest potential obstacles to compliance and try to overcome them through their choice of indirect, or conditional, requests. In selecting their request, speakers in most situations try to pinpoint the obstacles as specifically as they can. (SED)

Describes a study on the English language use of native speakers of Arabic and Japanese in three task conditions: completing a written grammar test, participating in an oral interview, and narrating a story. Results support the hypothesis that the utterances of second language learners show systematic variability related to task. (SED)

Notes that modern rewriters transform traditional folk stories for reading texts, adhering to strictures imposed by popular ideas about childhood, language, and learning. Proposes to improve the quality of folktales and learning by restoring original language in folktales. (FL)

Argues that the reader's active transformation and recreation of the text and both the content and function are best understood within the context of the personal style or identity the reader is shaping. (HOD)

Deals with the split in English departments between perpetuating humanistic study and teaching technical communication skills, and offers suggestions to promote appreciation of good literature as well as effective writing and the relation between the two. (CRH)

Describes students' assumptions about the nature of literature and presents teaching strategies to counter these assumptions and engage students in creative and analytical writing appropriate to a range of literature courses. (MM)

The article, written in Spanish, discusses the influences of Chicano literature--the people, language, and history. (NQ)

This article discusses the various styles of commercial correspondence in Spanish. (Text is in Spanish.) (CLK)

This paper explores the role of genre within a literacy based curriculum of the German department at Georgetown University. Recently, the department finished its 3-year implementation phase of a curriculum reform and is currently involved in the ongoing maintenance and refinement of curricular features such as writing and speaking tasks.…

After delineating phonological and syntactic characteristics of black English, the authors present a review of comparative studies and conclude that a dialect exists among lower-class black children. That no standardized tests have been developed for use with speakers of the dialect poses a problem for educators. The authors conclude that the use…