Reviews research on the social interaction and negotiation of second language (L2) learners and their interlocutors. This research illustrates ways in which negotiation contributes to conditions, processes, and outcomes of L2 learning by facilitating learners' comprehension and structural segmentation of L2 input, access to lexical form and…

Supports the primacy of standard language usage in higher education, arguing that common communication and comprehension bind together a pluralistic culture. Contends individual student success and equality also are promoted by standard language usage. Calls for research into academic failure among minorities. Suggests standardization need not…

Considers the question of which variety of Indonesian to teach in Australia. Issues related to standardization, formality, and diglossia in Bahasa, Indonesia, the use of its many varieties across Indonesia, differences between the Jakarta dialect and the standard form, and pedagogical considerations in teaching non-standard varieties are…

Discusses the declining role of Spanish at every level of the teaching profession. Although Spanish is the most-studied foreign language in the United States, the increasing trend is to use English instead of Spanish, even in upper-level and literature classes and in scholarly writing about Spanish. (CNP)

Uses examples from pen-pal letters written in English to unknown Navajo peers by elementary and secondary Athabaskan students to argue that even in written English, the Athabaskan sense of place is evident, and it is an integral part of the construction of self and the world. (SM)

Emphasizes the importance of sociolinguistically and pragmatically appropriate materials of the target language for second-language learners. Discusses whether there is any strong agreement between Japanese and Korean learners of English regarding their perceptions of status, obligation to apology, and the appropriateness of the situation.…

Explores relationships between standard language and arithmetic-test performance and a range of language-related family characteristics in the Netherlands. The sample consists of 7730 pupils from nearly 700 primary schools. The main question is whether pupils who use standard Dutch perform better than pupils from another language variety, such as…

A study investigated the nature and extent of "impression management" strategies used in Queensland (Australia) school publications and advertising, particularly for private schools, through semiotic analysis, which highlights the degree to which symbolic processes are influenced by context and changing market forces. (MSE)

Reviews the Initial Teacher Training National Curriculum for Primary English, which specifies what students who are intending to become primary school teachers must be taught about the English language. It also discusses two other key policy texts: the "National Curriculum for English" for primary school pupils, and the "National…

Discussion of the linguistic character of electronic mail (e-mail) looks at technology's role in shaping spoken and written usage, the growth of e-mail as a new communication genre, and formal linguistic properties of e-mail. Proposes a model of e-mail as a creolizing linguistic modality, analogous to pidginization and creolization processes well…

Given the research that suggests the social use of language is the latest developing aspect of language, it was hypothesized that children with speech/language impairment (SLI) are particularly susceptible to social interaction difficulties, resulting in diminished social competence. This hypothesis was explored with SLI and non-language-impaired…

This article is drawn from a large-scale ongoing study on linguistic progress in advanced French as a second language (FL2). The performance of 48 English-speaking students who spent their third year of university in France the "experimental" group) has been compared to that of 39 classmates who chose to stay and study at home in…

In 2002, the National Center for Health Statistics conducted Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), surveying a nationally representative sample of 12,500 women and men from 15 to 44 years of age, including more than 2,700 Hispanics. The process for developing the Spanish version of the NSFG included modified committee…

This article describes five political scientists' interview-based accounts of appropriate and inappropriate use of the pronouns "I" and "we" in academic writing. The informants talked about pronoun use with reference to one of their own journal articles and also by referring to other informants' texts. Beliefs about appropriate…

The study explores students' use of language in the process of making sense of genetics concepts. It aims to analyze primary and secondary discourses, and examine the relationship between social practices and discourses. Sixth-grade students were interviewed before and during four weeks instruction on genetics. General trends were detected…