In the name of responsible argument, persuasive rhetoric need not eschew all the devices used by propaganda. Emotion is not only inevitable in discourse, it is the necessary base for action. Educators should not consider propaganda evil for the very reason they consider poetry good: its emotional power. This kind of thinking creates a specious…

Models of similarity have traditionally assumed that the similarity relation is symmetrical. However, when reversed, similarity statements frequently have different properties from those of the original. Previous attempts to account for the asymmetry of similarity have focused only on literal comparisons, resulting in a tendency to underestimate…

A low level of literacy development plagues many parts of the Pacific region despite the fact that parents are very keen for their children to become literate in order to embrace the modern world. Issues concerning early education and the attainment of literacy are still a challenge in the Pacific. In order to understand the reasons for the low…

Discusses the role of the home and the school in remedying language problems of the culturally disadvantaged. (RB)

Author visited schools in three main sectors of the Capetown population and described and compared these schools in relation to some of J. Downing's variables, such as language and linguistics, culture and education. (Author/RK)

Presents research findings on sexist uses of language in dictionaries. (RB)

Our system of teaching language makes most native speakers feel insecure in their own usages. (JH)

This paper, a small part of a larger project which explores the effects of linguistic insecurity on language production, discusses the negative attitudes toward language of some of the present-day "language elite"--those who take pleasure in or earn their livelihood by "Correcting every body else." Linguistic insecurity is, then, the feeling that…

The pervasiveness of sexism in our society is reflected in language structure and usage. In pronominal usage, masculine singular forms are assumed to include the feminine, although, when referring to female sex-role-typed occupations, "she" is used. In this research, the effect of the instructor's use of "she," as the generic singular, on student…

A study polled Alsatian students to examine attitudes toward the Alsatian dialect and changes as students became older, more educated and more proficient in French. Use of Alsatian with family and friends becomes less frequent by age 15 with increased command of French. (CHK)