Concerned with college students' written composition and their understanding of English grammar, usage, and mechanics, this book is based on the beliefs that society is clearly class structured, that representatives of all classes attend various kinds of colleges, that society is responsible for each of these students, and that this obligation…

This paper reviews three studies designed to assess the impact of gender-related terms. The first study examined 144 male and female undergraduate students' preferences for and performance on tasks using alternatives to the standard English forms, "his/hers" and "him/her." The second study attempted to replicate the original study and to prove…

The discoveries of theoretical linguistics could aid teachers in explaining such usages as "well,""sort of," sex link uses, and forms marking levels of politeness. Conversely, there is much about second language learning that theoretical linguistics could learn from applied linguistics. (Author/KM)

This is a slightly abbreviated version of part of a report commissioned at the end of 1995 by the Queensland Department of Education, Peninsula Region, and carried out with the help of teachers at Thursday Island State High School. It analyses some formal language differences between written Standard Australian English and spoken Torres Strait…

This article examines "ty" and "vy" usage in contemporary Soviet Russian by way of contrastive analysis with pronoun usage in English. The importance of understanding the cultural implications of the Russian pronouns is stressed. (CLK)

Proposes a "situation typology" for foreign language teaching, based on social-psychological research. Offers samples of English dialogue. Shows the need for analysis and classification of everyday situations, for use in foreign language teaching. (IFS/WGA)

Presents a unit in communication that utilizes poster advertisements, taped scripts, puppet shows, and commercials to teach good gramar. (MAI)

Reports on the "English Usage Test" (EUT), which not only helps students recognize and correct their language weaknesses, but also helps the communications department stabilize enrollment with elements of quality as well as quantity. (RL)

Discusses the implications for changes in linguistic theory, especially regarding sociolinguistics, for the teaching and learning of English as a second language. Advises language teachers to use common sense in adapting or reacting to the theoretical changes affecting language instruction. (RL)

Offers alternatives to sexist language, with related learning activities, which business communication instructors can use to promote affirmative action writing. (RL)

Some features of "persuasion dialogue" are examined, and suggestions are offered for ways in which persuasion might be used as a topic in the language class to stimulate the use of realistic language through appropriate role playing. Three dialogues are presented that illustrate different kinds of persuasion. (SW)

Native signs used as basic kin terms in 20 sign languages from several sign language families are examined. (Author/NCR)

A measure of standard English (SE) performance was administered to children from ten culture/language groups in the Western United States. The results of the test indicate that elementary school children from a wide variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds experience difficulty with the same SE grammatical features. (Author/AM)

Teachers of different languages diconnect themselves from one another, which fragments the profession. Secondly, the choice and use of language often has a disconnecting force. Theses of a book by Neil Postman are considered concerning ineffective communication and communication that has unreasonable or trivial purposes. (SW)

Describes the main characteristics of children's talk at home and at school, as they move through the preschool years into the first years of school. (AA)