Different conceptions of literacy and its relationship with oral communication are examined, and a new approach that separates literacy and orality rather than representing them on a continuum is criticized. The methodological and theoretical assumptions underlying the work of proponents of the new approach are questioned, including: (1) a narrow…

In the traditional classroom, written reports assigned to students are generally returned as poorly written, reworded collections of facts taken from single sources. Cross-curriculum writing is a way of circumventing this and encouraging learning and thought development by the student. Writing is usually considered a communication skill, but…

The prevalence of writing errors made by third-year medical students from the class of 1981 at a large midwestern medical school was studied. The papers of 253 students taking family medicine were evaluated for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Four types of grammar errors and seven punctuation errors were analyzed, and each word…

Intended to provide for the reader a new road to study India, the booklet encourages students to experience the languages of India as an avenue to learning something about its people. The workbook introduces the reader to the languages of India; shows through activities and research the contributions of Indian languages to English; and provides a…

A study investigated the relationship between cognitive style and coherence in discourse. The primary hypothesis was that coherence would vary bimodally by cognitive style classification. Forty-four freshman composition students from three west coast colleges completed the Culture Fair Intelligence Test, the Group Embedded Figures Test, and the…

While a student's intimate speech is his own business; not teaching him to speak and write standard English will seriously handicap him in his future life. (JH)

Through careful selection of trade books, teachers can promote children's awareness of language. This paper cites numerous trade books that may be used to help children develop appreciation of alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, and rhyme, and it recommends a number of alphabet books, animal stories, and books in which word meanings, interesting…

This paper begins with a review of recent studies of the development of phonology, syntax, and semantics between the ages of five and twelve. Studies in pragmatics (or the functions of language) are also considered. The paper then turns from investigations of oral language acquisition to an examination of the interplay between oral and written…

This report reviews evidence that there are differences between oral and written English that lead to differences in the skills and knowledge necessary to comprehend them. Three categories of differences are considered in an attempt to derive specific, testable hypotheses: differences in the physical nature of speech and writing, differences in…

Examines language and social stratification through content analysis. Linguistic forms, conditions and regulating functions are explored. (MH)

A study investigated the reading comprehension of 34 college freshmen in relation to the presence of 20 syntactic elements of written language in their expository writing. Language samples included one silent reading comprehension test that identified "high" and "low" readers and two expository in-class themes, one developed…

This dictionary of Kodiak Alutiiq contains much of the conversational vocabulary of the Kodiak Island dialects. The alphabet is presented with examples in English as a key to pronunciation and with explanations of the sound system. An introduction to the dictionary explains the format and provides examples for each category of word to facilitate…

The decline in writing ability among students entering college can be attributed to such factors as the absence of verbal precision in television, advertising, and political language, the lack of writing practice in high school English classes, overloaded and unprepared English teachers, and the difficulties involved in evaluating student writing.…

The phenomenon of "invented spelling" in young children, observed in many preschool age children who produce written messages using words that are generated through an original system of orthography, was researched with Spanish-speaking children. The following conclusions were made from previous research with English-speaking children concerning…

THIS HANDBOOK OF MODERN LINGUISTICS HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR THE ADULT LAYMAN OR TEACHER WHO NEEDS A GENERAL BACKGROUND IN LINGUISTICS AS WELL AS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE "LINGUISTIC APPROACH" AS IT IS BEING INTRODUCED IN ENGLISH TEACHING TODAY. THE AUTHORS HAVE TAKEN THE STAND THAT LINGUISTICS IS HERE TO STAY--ALONG WITH THE "NEW…