This study analyzed informal Finnish compositions written by the first pupils in Vaasa (Finland) who were taught Swedish by immersion method and the compositions of their parallel class. Compositions in the fourth and fifth forms were compared. The immersion pupils were taught mostly in Swedish, while their peers in the parallel group were taught…

Revised version of a paper presented to the 1972 TESOL Convention in Washington, D.C. (DD)

Ninth grade remedial readers at a suburban Chicago high school were given a language development program which included reading while listening to tapes and lessons in syntactic manipulation. Analysis of program effects showed that students improved their ability to understand and manipulate syntactic structures. Reading did not improve markedly.…

Summarizes a study of advanced ESL university students from eight first-language backgrounds and discusses the proficiency differences found between several groups in processing two types of information patterns in written English. Suggests possible variables in cognitive strategies and skills related to the students' different cultural/linguistic…

Discusses problems experienced by non-Anglo-Saxon university students in assimilating scientific and technical materials written in English. Argues that instruction imparted in a foreign language impoverishes the learner's language, affecting negatively his ability to function in the native environment. Supports the use of translations against…

Analyzes the problems of multilingual societies, arguing that multilingualism will not hinder economic development and communication, provided that the requirements of the various regional sections and social strata are respected. Denounces foreign language dominance as an instrument of colonialism and advocates enrichment of local languages…

Presents an interpretation of the history of the development of visual and verbal language, and argues for the place of electronic technologies of visual and oral languages in the language arts curriculum. (DF)

Investigates to what extent ESL learners' syntactic errors in written communication cause comprehension breakdown. The variables considered are the omission, insertion, and wrong choice of articles and connectors. Results indicated that errors concerning connectors cause communication breakdown more often than do errors in article usage. (PMJ)

Discusses techniques that facilitate student learning, conserve instructor time, provide a rationale for course and materials design, and increase inter-rater reliability. Includes suggestions for providing for student differences, determining what to teach and when, and saving time in grading compositions. (PMJ)

Shows that the ability to impose a distinct and exact meaning on what is seen underlies the skills involved in reading; notes the importance of training in perception combined with a clear sense of the purpose of reading. (GT)

Examines the perception of components of written and spoken codes of human communication from a broad perspective in an attempt to identify possible similarities. (GT)

Responds to Allison's (1996) defense of pragmatism, arguing that it is necessary to distinguish between "vulgar" and "critical" pragmatism and showing how various "discourses of neutrality" help construct English for academic purposes (EAP) as a neutral enterprise. Some of the directions in which a critical approach to EAP might proceed are…

Presents evidence that content-based instruction at the intermediate level of English language proficiency not only enhances performance at that level but may also help to facilitate English-as-a-Second-Language students' subsequent performance in the college academic mainstream and increase their likelihood of earning a college degree. (27…

Describes weaknesses in the sociolinguistic competence of second-language (L2) learners as documented by research in immersion contexts. The article discusses findings with reference to adolescent native speakers' use of question forms, conditionals, and second-person pronouns across two levels of formality in written and oral productions. (48…