Ways that dictation helps students learn English as a Foreign Language are discussed. Varieties of dictation are included along with one teacher's experience using it in a Chinese university. (one reference) (LB)

This reprint of a lecture published in 1976 examines the uses of history and literary stories for instructing children in grammar, creative dramatics, natural history, and prehistory, as well as literary analysis. Provides a starting point for thinking about the power of literature as an integrating medium in the Montessori elementary classroom.…

Compiles excerpts from two 1964 lectures that examine the use of folk and fairy tales for the teaching of prehistory, geography, and grammar. Provides a starting point for thinking about the power of literature as an integrating medium in the Montessori elementary classroom. (HTH)

Argues that translation can be an effective learning tool for English speakers learning Chinese if semantic and discourse analysis are incorporated. Examples are given to illustrate various problems in such translation, including the division between state and action verbs, and the nonuse of -LE with verbs in past meaning. (15 references) (JL)

Discusses the theoretical implications of an experimental pilot study on the acquisition of word order properties in the French spoken by Dutch native speakers. Results provide support for the universal grammar approach to second-language acquisition. (Author/CB)

Asks whether the sustained instruction in the "basics" of English, especially grammar, is being unrightfully ignored. Challenges teachers who claim that instruction in grammar is unneeded or ill-advised. Counters such assertions by examining two research studies purportedly proving the ineffectiveness of teaching grammar. (HB)

Examined past-tense inflection of verbs in Norwegian. Data from specifically language-impaired children, normally developing children, and adults were studied by a test constructed to find how input factors such as type and token of frequency and phonological acquisition influence acquisition of past-tense inflection. The goal was to learn whether…

Aims at demonstrating the gradual automatization of subject-verb agreement operation in young writers by examining developmental changes in the occurrence of agreement errors. Finds that subjects' performance moved from systematic errors to attraction errors through an intermediate phase. Concludes that attraction errors are a byproduct of the…

Examined cross-linguistic similarities and differences in early lexical and grammatical development among English- and Italian-speaking preschoolers. Parents completed surveys on vocabulary size, vocabulary composition, and grammatical complexity. No cross-linguistic differences surfaced in the composition of vocabulary in this age range. There…

Presents an ideological model of literacy for teaching grammar. Discusses its connection to guidelines for teacher preparation and language-arts standards. Discusses strategies in language classes to help teachers see language and grammar, along with language and grammar pedagogy, in broader terms. Concludes that English-teaching majors must…

A study examined whether text structures were included in the "oral" videotaped retellings of a second grader with deafness across 28 texts. Improvements in the child's ability to include specific elements of text structures were documented over nine months. A 12-month increase in reading ability and narrative ability was also documented.…

Compared mother', fathers', and siblings' corrective repetitions to children's errors across different settings. Analyses revealed that mothers and fathers provided more corrective repetitions than did siblings. Results are discussed in terms of current negative evidence research. (Author/VWL)

Presents data that challenge the view that the omission of functional categories by children with specific language impairment is a manifestation of the same immaturity characterizing the grammar of young children without impairment. Data include atypically high omissions or even almost total absence of determiners in the speech productions of a…

Considers an interactive messaging system that was set up on the Internet to enable Hong Kong teachers of English to discuss language-related issues as part of the TeleNex teacher-support network. Describes how grammatical explanations based on the analysis of corpus data are routinely used to answer teachers' queries. (Author/VWL)

Examines unknown word inference strategies in Japanese high school students' English-as-a-Foreign-Language reading.(Author/VWL)