In a Cleveland (Ohio) program, writing instruction for adults who speak nonstandard English is based on respect for students' spoken language as a dialect. Adapting foreign language instructional techniques such as translation, teachers avoided formal grammar terms and used extensive oral practice. (SK)

Provides suggestions on various English instruction topics. Includes (1) "Argumentation Exercise," Hari Vishwanadha; (2) "How to Survive Developmental (or Any Other) English," Sally Russell; (3) "Reach Out to an Expert," Norma A. Register; (4) "Summary and Response Writing," Alec Valentine; (5) "The Living Journal," Blair Spencer Ray; and (6)…

The article identifies specific problems in writing experienced by students with learning disabilities and offers remedial strategies. Considered are problems in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. An example of a case study to identify errors in writing mechanics is also offered. (DB)

Reports a study of two- and three-year-olds' acquisition of complex sentences with perception and epistemic verbs that took a second verb in their complements. Complement types, complementizer connectives, and the discourse contexts in which complementation occurred were specific to individual matrix verbs. (Author/CB)

Re-analysis of data regarding children's acquisition of tense and aspect indicated that children learning Polish were influenced by aspect in acquiring verb tense in the same way as children were influenced in learning other languages. Children beginning to learn verb inflections found aspectual contour particularly compelling in leading them to…

Shares the experiences of telling stories to three-year-old Tim, who began to take over parts of the stories to tell himself. Suggests that, by making storytelling an interactive event, adults can help children feel comfortable enough in storytelling to be confident of their own emergent narrative ability. (MG)

Six autistic children, age 3-6, and 6 children with Down syndrome were followed over a period of 12-26 months. Autistic children followed the same general developmental path as the Down syndrome children in the acquisition of grammatical and lexical aspects of language. (Author/JDD)

The development of communicative skills in a second language, it is argued, should include grammatical competence as well as form and message. The importance of grammatical instruction and teaching trends and theories are discussed, ending with the conclusion that the climate exists for development of a fully articulated theory of pedagogical…

Reports on a descriptive study of German education at several Illinois high schools. Data collected through interviews, questionnaires, and the videotaping of classroom instruction are presented and analyzed. The implications of the data are discussed with regard to teaching German grammar, students attitudes toward learning grammar, and the use…

Results of a study with college students of French support the value of explicit grammar instruction but also suggest that implicit grammar teaching strategies in the classroom setting have yet to be clearly defined. Further research is necessary to determine which kinds of linguistic structures lend themselves best to implicit grammar…

Explores how children learn the range of aspect inflection to which a verb is amenable. Analyses focus on the children's mastery of Aktionsart specific intersentential patterns. Three conclusions are given based on the study's results. (21 references) (GLR)

A variety of French language classroom activities are described, including a game to familiarize immersion students with Canada; exercises using songs; a teacher-student competitive vocabulary game; communicative activities; three games to practice verb conjugations, previously learned structures, and vocabulary; and a whole-language activity…

Twenty-three normal adults and four closed head-injured (CHI) adults with a high level of language recovery retold and generated stories. The two tasks differentially influenced the performance of both groups. The two groups differed in measures of cohesiveness and story grammar only in the story generation task. (Author/JDD)

Examines the way in which the reading aloud done by a second language learner of English can reveal aspects of the learner's interlanguage. Particular attention is paid to the learner's acquisition of the "-ed" past tense morpheme, and to the acquisition of pronouns. (Author/VWL)

The author identified grammar and punctuation software suitable for secondary or postsecondary business students. Three programs--(1) Agreement of Subject and Verb, (2) Punctuation Review, and (3) English Achievement I--were field tested in a classroom setting. Student impressions of the programs are reported. (CH)