Explores the concept of language for learning or discovery and suggests that classrooms based on that principle offer more favorable climates for assessing both students' language and their learning. (DF)

Examines features of and sources for the discourse of Martin Luther King, Jr., as they relate to the language and assumptions favored by his listeners and readers in an effort to understand how speakers and writers can successfully argue from premises that audiences accept. Indicates how an understanding of King can help in composition…

Describes the complex multilingual situation that exists among the Tucanoan language groups in Columbia and Brazil, which illustrates interrelationships among cultural patterns and values, language attitudes, language use, and language survival. The groups are patrilineal and patrilocal; thus one's primary language is one's father's primary…

It is argued that second-language classroom communication is often limited by the lack of instructor use of tonic pronouns. Two uses of the pronoun form that should be used from the beginning of the second-language program to promote authentic communication are described. (MSE)

Reports on a study of mothers' uses of nouns and pronouns and their references to objects and persons as environmental variables which might relate to children's nominal preferences. Findings suggest that environmental factors do contribute to stylistic differences in language acquisition and that the communicative functions of language are an…

Examines the impact of the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (1982) on minority groups in Canada, focusing on linguistic minorities and handicapped citizens. Considers each group in a political, economic, and social context, offering selected comparisons with the U.S. (DMM)

Classifies the different language interactions that occur in the school and home, ranging from those that give the child or learner the power to make language choices to those that control the child's use of language. (HTH)

The vocative use of the Chinese term of address "tongzhi" ("comrade"), is analyzed. It was found that in its unmarked form it is a neutral term, but marked, its use becomes a negotiation to change the social distance between speaker and addressee, possibly explaining how certain such structures evolve and are maintained. (MSE)

Discusses James Britton's "English" course, which progresses from participant to spectator and from the transactional to the poetic in writing, as an alternative to the impractical and unnatural five-paragraph essay. (HTH)

Examines how students' difficulty in understanding Chaucer stems from differences between modern and medieval assumptions about the function and method of narrative. (CRH)

A technique for illustrating to foreign language students how diversity can exist within a given culture uses taped interviews on a specific topic with different individuals. Students have a chance to analyze sociocultural patterns and make linguistic comparisons and generalizations. (MSE)

The potential classroom uses of the foreign language dictionary as a cultural object and source of information about language usage, cultural perceptions, and documentation of attitudes are explored. (MSE)

Argues against overemphasizing clarity in the research and teaching of organizational communication because clarity and openness are neither the norm nor sensible standards to gauge communication competence or organizational effectiveness. Defines strategic ambiguity and explores its use in organizations to accomplish goals. Presents suggestions…

Explores the extent to which young children differentiate between story and report and how these differences manifest themselves in the structures they produce when they read and write. (FL)

Discusses the value of invented spelling as a means of encouraging young children to begin writing. Cites many examples of invented spelling. (FL)