The textbook surveys what is known about language and of the methods used by linguists in arriving at that knowledge. Each chapter addresses an aspect of linguistics, reviewing current knowledge and providing study questions, discussion topics and projects, and a list of additional reading. Chapter topics include: the origins of language;…

In response to the need for dynamic foreign language materials with a communicative focus, this report addresses the relationship between learner characteristics and success in language learning. It suggests that a self-pacing individualized option should be available to students to deal with unique problems. The problems may be dealt with by…

This paper focuses on the mechanism by which the successful learner acquires a second language. The author postulates a core language, the common core of the speaker's native and target languages, and states that the second language becomes an extension of this common core. Whatever language-specific features are added while acquiring the second…

This paper examines: (1) the use of questions by children at different levels of proficiency in Spanish and English, and (2) the congruency between the language constructs used to measure language proficiency and the natural language repertoire of children as seen in video-tapes of classroom interaction. A quantitative analysis of the data…

This paper examines the questions of whether or not previous knowledge of Spanish (oral and/or written) interferes with an English as a second language (ESL) student's acquisition of English reading skills, which skills are affected, and what classroom techniques are successful in dealing with it. Two contrasting views of reading are examined:…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: a transformational analysis of syntax in tenth-grade writing; the relationship between inner-city fifth graders' reading comprehension and writing achievement; the relationship of the…

The three major dialect groups of Saudi Arabia are Hijazi, Najdi and Shargi. Hijazi is used for government and commercial purposes and is the most widely understood. This basic course uses the Hijazi dialect of Jidda, which is designated "urban" to distinguish it from Bedouin varieties. The book will provide students with the basic…

Drawing on recent psychological and neurological research on how individual differences might interact with learning a particular language, the study examines how psycholinguistic research and theory can help in assigning military personnel to language training and to a given language. Using the Defense Language Institute's Defense Language…

Fifty-three papers on linguistic theory and language research, including a number of prize-winning essays, address these topics: aspects of discourse analysis; bilingualism; Chinese modal verbs; early bilingual speech; linguistic metatheory; music and accent discrepancy; diphthongs; hiatus; vowel patterns; suprasegmentals; neologisms; aspects of…

This collection of essays, most followed by comments, reflect some aspect of the general theme: reading is a multifacted, complex, interactive process that involves many subskills and many types of reader, as well as text, variables. Papers include: "The Eclectic Synergy of Methods of Reading Research" (Ulla Connor); "A View of…

Topics covered in papers presented at an international meeting on foreign language methodology include the following: how to sort out the new approaches to foreign language teaching methods; unconscious assimilation in foreign language learning; the lack of concrete answers arrived at during this meeting; methodological considerations in applying…

This paper offers a two-step review to be used in designing dominance assessment plans and in determining appropriate instrumentation. The first step provides a classification system of dominance instruments according to testing specificity and strategy. The second step suggests criteria by which such instruments can be evaluated and selected.…

Television is of limited value to hearing-impaired children, who cannot benefit from the soundtrack. Traditional caption writing techniques, which involve editing of the audio track, have been based primarily on the captioner's empirical knowledge and intuition and aim the captions at a presumed average language and reading ability of the target…

This study investigates the structural and functional differences between the non-standard Negro English of northern ghetto areas (NNE) and standard English (SE). The major field work was done in Central Harlem with (1) a geographically random sample of 50 pre-adolescent speakers in Vacation Day Camps, (2) six pre-adolescent and adolescent peer…

This volume consists of three articles. "'Language and Society' in the B.A. Scheme," by L. M. O'Toole, is a revised version of some proposals for incorporating a "Language and Society" course in the second year of the B.A. program at the Language Centre. Ten propositions are offered as a basis for discussion. "Some Soviet…