A study investigated the effects of symbolic play treated as a mediator for increasing language comprehension and facilitating oral language growth. The study included two aspects of language: language comprehension and language development. Independent variables were forms of play--puppet action, body action, abstract (imagined) action, and no…

The Kindergarten Oral Language Project (KOLP) is a program of the Los Angeles (California) Unified School District. The program is based on Teaching Activities for Language Knowledge and is designed to improve oral language skills of the kindergarten population, identify students at risk for language and speech problems, and decrease incidences of…

To find differences and similarities between spoken and written English, analyses were made of four specific kinds of language. Twenty adults, either graduate students or university professors, provided a sample of each of the following: conversations, lectures, informal letters, and academic papers. Conversations and lecture samples came from…

Impromptu speech can be defined in different ways: in terms of situational context, linguistic characteristics, and real-time processing. These approaches are not contradictory. There are certain situations that call for rapid processing of spoken discourse, and the needs of that processing are reflected in the structure of the text. The degree of…

Nonverbal phenomena associated with communication can take a variety of forms: kinesic behavior, physical characteristics, touching behavior, paralanguage, proxemics, artifacts, or environmental factors. To be regarded as communication, nonverbal behavior should be intentional and goal-directed, but it need not involve a conscious choice by the…

A study of feedback in conversational question-response exchanges focused on the questioner's feedback to the respondent. It examined three types of "followup" moves: the ordinary type revealing the questioner's attitude to the response and closing the exchange; the type signaling the questioner's reaction to the response and inviting…

In language learning, one important prerequisite for successful imitation of the native speaker is full awareness of his linguistic behavior and, if possible, its analysis. Brief language immersion and brief periods of conversation in the target language do not provide enough opportunity to observe the native speakers' linguistic peculiarities and…

A study of differences in linguistic behavior between men and women in Amman, Jordan, used a random sample of 150 individuals as subjects. Distribution of lexical items was examined for variation correlating lexical choice with sex of the speaker, and phonological variable standardization and the manner in which choice of variant is conditioned by…

This paper examines the results of two sociolinguistic studies of the Arabic spoken by men and women in Jordan and Syria in terms of sex differentiation in Arabic. The study reported in this paper proposes that the terms "prestigious" and "standard" should not be used interchangeably; accordingly, it reinterprets the previous…

It is proposed that a speech-dynamic analysis of oral fluency phenomena serves best to highlight the nondiscrete nature of the sound stream and to capture English syllable structure. Some current concepts and practices in oral testing are criticized, and previously neglected evidence concerning temporal variables in speech, automatic speech…

Business language is directed both outward, toward the general public and inward, toward the particular type of business. In the first instance, it approximates lay language and has contributed some expressions to common usage. In the second instance, it departs from lay language and becomes specialized within each industry, sometimes to the point…

Some of the problems of acquisition of pragmatic competence in speech experience by language learners are examined, and the implications of selected literature in sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and social psychology for enhancing pragmatic competence through second language instruction are discussed. Of special concern are the development…

A study examined the effects of literacy in a Roman alphabet on the performance of Hmong refugees in a three-month program of English as a second language (ESL) and cultural orientation located in Thailand. Upon registration, information was gathered from program participants on previous education and reading ability in Hmong. The 114 subjects…

Advancement of students' abilities to cope with the demands of exposition and argument is noted when they are encouraged to accept mixed diction within a framework of activities that interrelate thinking, speaking, reading, writing, and listening, in the context of the immediate audience of class and teacher. Research indicates that when a weak…

A study examined whether students of business English in a private university in Puerto Rico experienced oral communication apprehension and how it was related to their proficiency in English. Two tests were administered to 180 students: McCroskey's Personal Report of Communication Apprehension and the Michigan Test of English Language…