A study of the use of the Maori language among residents of the North Island of New Zealand drew on data from interviews with members of 6,470 Maori families over the period 1973-1979. Over 6,915 heads of household gave data concerning their knowledge of the language, their use of it in a variety of situations, and their attitudes and experiences…

This paper attempts to survey some of the activities that fall under the umbrella of "debate" at Hong Kong University by focusing on a variety of disparate practices across the university, ranging from one-to-one argument to legal moots, from informal classroom discussions to departmental and cross-faculty debating events and…

A discussion of oral language testing looks at the role of student attitudes, student and interviewer gender, and interviewer social status in the reliability of student assessments. Three small-scale studies investigating these factors are described. The first two involved only Arab students. In the first, it was found that students (all male)…

A teacher's manual is presented for "The Working Experience," a series of three texts for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. The series builds on oral skills to develop reading and writing ability while still expanding oral English-language proficiency. Because one of the basic principles underlying the series is the idea that students…

Books 1, 2, and 3 of "The Working Experience," a series of texts for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students, are contained in this document. The series builds on oral skills to develop reading and writing ability while still expanding oral English-language proficiency. Since one of the basic principles underlying the series is the idea that…

This study examined the relationship between early language measures and kindergarten literacy measures for children from 40 low-income families. Early literacy measures were based on conversations between mother and child during a book-reading session; the child's report of an event as elicited by the mother; and mealtime. Conversations were…

A discussion of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction begins with a review of the English language teaching situation in Singapore today and goes on to examine issues in the production of ESL instructional materials. The focus is on oral language instruction. The first section, concerning Singapore, outlines the structure of syllabuses…

A study investigated the oral and written language used in college student groups working on draft revisions. Subjects were 19 freshmen in a composition class. Data were gathered in two speech situations: (1) students and instructor engaged in revision; and (2) a three-student peer group revision session with no teacher present. The use of…

A practicum study, recognizing the expressive language delays of inner-city kindergarten children, implemented two strategies to increase their expressive language ability and their mean length of utterance. The target population, 14 kindergarten students who demonstrated vocabulary development delays on the Brigance Kindergarten Screening Test,…

Originally developed for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on developing oral language is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an overview on the topic; the full text of several…

A study compared the effects of cognitive complexity on the speech production of 14 advanced non-native speakers of English and 14 native English-speakers. Cognitively simple and complex tasks were distinguished based on text type (narrative versus expository). Subjects read one narrative and one expository text in separate sessions, then wrote…

Within the framework of storytelling (rather than story reading or listening) as a classroom technique for foreign language instruction, a wide range of classroom activities and over 70 story outlines are proposed. The activities range from introspective to highly interactive, from beginner to advanced, and many are offered as alternatives to…

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication instruction to classroom practice, this booklet examines the role of technology in the classroom. Following a brief discussion of the impact of television on students, the first major section of the booklet explores the power of television as a curriculum tool.…

A exploratory study investigated the link between verbal responses to environmental signs, written representations of the same signs, and recall of the intended meaning of the written signs among children from homes in the low and middle socio-economic level. Subjects, 75 nursery school and beginning kindergarten children, aged 3 to 5.10 years,…

Very young Spanish-English bilingual children may not perceive sound-clue illustrations presented in the classroom as they are intended to be perceived. For example, when a child is told, "A is for apple," he may also interpret the message as "A is for manzana," confusing the intended message. While the teacher may hear English only, the child's…