Considers the extent to which a testing task can be made authentic so that it constitutes an example of normal and natural language behavior on the part of both examiner and candidate. Also considers the effects on test validity and the correct interpretation of test results if a test cannot be made authentic. (SED)

An account of how the author's son began writing as a play activity, issuing tickets to neighbors, attempting to read and interpret signs, and participating in making shopping and duty lists in the household. Includes observational recommendations. (CRH)

Studies patterns of frequent mistakes in the use of articles in English by speakers of Hindi/Punjabi. The control over the definite and indefinite article is examined in relation to their forms and functions. The use of articles is also considered in complex noun phrases and different syntactic structures, and an attempt is made to establish a…

Explores the concept of language for learning or discovery and suggests that classrooms based on that principle offer more favorable climates for assessing both students' language and their learning. (DF)

Examines features of and sources for the discourse of Martin Luther King, Jr., as they relate to the language and assumptions favored by his listeners and readers in an effort to understand how speakers and writers can successfully argue from premises that audiences accept. Indicates how an understanding of King can help in composition…

Describes the complex multilingual situation that exists among the Tucanoan language groups in Columbia and Brazil, which illustrates interrelationships among cultural patterns and values, language attitudes, language use, and language survival. The groups are patrilineal and patrilocal; thus one's primary language is one's father's primary…

It is argued that second-language classroom communication is often limited by the lack of instructor use of tonic pronouns. Two uses of the pronoun form that should be used from the beginning of the second-language program to promote authentic communication are described. (MSE)

Reports on a study of mothers' uses of nouns and pronouns and their references to objects and persons as environmental variables which might relate to children's nominal preferences. Findings suggest that environmental factors do contribute to stylistic differences in language acquisition and that the communicative functions of language are an…

Examines the impact of the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (1982) on minority groups in Canada, focusing on linguistic minorities and handicapped citizens. Considers each group in a political, economic, and social context, offering selected comparisons with the U.S. (DMM)

Classifies the different language interactions that occur in the school and home, ranging from those that give the child or learner the power to make language choices to those that control the child's use of language. (HTH)

The vocative use of the Chinese term of address "tongzhi" ("comrade"), is analyzed. It was found that in its unmarked form it is a neutral term, but marked, its use becomes a negotiation to change the social distance between speaker and addressee, possibly explaining how certain such structures evolve and are maintained. (MSE)

Discusses James Britton's "English" course, which progresses from participant to spectator and from the transactional to the poetic in writing, as an alternative to the impractical and unnatural five-paragraph essay. (HTH)

Examines how students' difficulty in understanding Chaucer stems from differences between modern and medieval assumptions about the function and method of narrative. (CRH)

A technique for illustrating to foreign language students how diversity can exist within a given culture uses taped interviews on a specific topic with different individuals. Students have a chance to analyze sociocultural patterns and make linguistic comparisons and generalizations. (MSE)

The potential classroom uses of the foreign language dictionary as a cultural object and source of information about language usage, cultural perceptions, and documentation of attitudes are explored. (MSE)