The Graduate Faculty of the University of Iowa voted to lift the college-wide language requirement, leavingthe decision in the hands of the departments. (Author/AP)

The 1959 Survey of English Usage has provided researchers and teachers with a corpus of spoken, manuscript, and printed Standard British English. New uses have been found for the survey's resources in recent years, and the spoken part is more widely available in book and computer tape form. (MSE)

Data in the Survey of English Usage are useful not only for frequency counts but also usage information not normally obtained from introspective analyses of self-made examples or from study of existing grammars or handbooks. Some of these findings are relevant to ESL teaching or syllabus writing. Examples are given. (MSE)

Content changes to avoid sexist language were developed and the assessment instrument to measure the impact of cognitive complexity on behavior was administered with the original test in varied orders on succeeding days. The forms were found comparable and effective for use in further research. (CM)

It is proposed that etymological information, usually provided in native speaker's dictionaries but eliminated from learners' references, can serve several important functions such as disambiguate, relate words that are alphabetically far apart, illuminate by providing an image or reference, and motivate with interesting information. (Author/MSE)

Describes a program for introducing nonstandard speakers to standard English syntactic patterns that involves three steps: (1) introducing the new pattern, (2) providing practice, and (3) manipulating the new pattern. (JL)

Four hypotheses of language use and acquisition are used to support the suggestion that story-telling techniques may be helpful in making ESL materials meaningful, recallable, and comprehensible. Eleven specific principles are discussed and illustrated. (Author/MSE)

Argues that reading and sharing poetry fosters richness in languages and encourages understanding of ideas presented through a beautiful form of expression. Offers a poetry guide for encouraging basic language skills. (FL)

Examines eight literary readers published between 1970 and 1980. Comments on the inclusion of works by women writers, attitudes toward women and men, the use of sexist language, and assumptions about the students for whom these textbooks were designed. (EKN)

Describes adjustments in speech patterns made by two- and three-year-olds when talking to their 14-month-old siblings and compares these changes with those made by mothers addressing their babies. Individual differences between the children indicate two types of influence on the adjustments made--pragmatic and emotional. (EKN)

Describes a study in which children are asked to choose the most probable or permissible of two modal propositions, a technique which assesses the children's appreciation of relative force. Results indicate that the general acquisition rule was: the greater the difference in the strength of the two modal propositions, the earlier the difference…

Describes the prevelance of sexist attitudes in modern language textbooks with many examples from dialogs and grammar exercises. Offers suggestions for combatting sex stereotyping. (EKN)