This paper focuses on the electronic literacy practices of two Korean-American heritage language learners who manage Korean weblogs. Online users deliberately alter standard forms of written language and play with symbols, characters, and words to economize typing effort, mimic oral language, or convey qualities of their linguistic identity such…

This study examined both socioeconomic and cultural factors in explaining ethnic differences in monitoring, behavioral control, and warmth--part of a series of coordinated studies presented in this special issue. Socioeconomic variables included mother's and father's educational levels, employment status, home ownership, number of siblings in the…

Historically, and continuing to the present, children in the primary grades receive the lion's share of attention and resources in learning to read. This makes sense: Young, early readers have a head start in achieving well not only in literacy skills, but in school in general. However, as inner-city, middle-grade teachers will readily attest,…

Literacy instruction materials developed by literacy workers are presented. Most of the materials are intended for a variety of student proficiency levels; one is intended for teachers. The first four sets, all illustrated with photographs, include a story about playing the lottery, the description of a shopping trip for jeans and shoes, a…

The annotated reading list cites works of fiction and non-fiction felt to be appropriate for learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Most are suitable for students at the "professional proficiency" level, although some may be read by students at the "limited working proficiency" level, and some are…

Can literature with obscene language be available in public schools? Can a teacher discuss the use of such language with students? This paper presents two points of view--one advocating the censorship of obscene language in literature and teaching in the public schools, and the other opposing it. The paper describes outcomes of court litigation…

Four aspects of English pragmatics that are often puzzling to students of English as a Second Language (ESL) are discussed and exemplified: certain mechanics (ellipsis; blended words; a-grammaticality); vague superordinates (generic verbs such as "get,""let,""do,""be,""have"; preposition with metaphoric extension such as "up,""in,""off,""through";…

A study investigaged: (1) whether learners of English as a Second Language can attend to meaning and form simultaneously; (2) how the nature of the linguistic form might affect processing for meaning; and (3) whether the learner's ability to focus on particular linguistic features is affected by whether or not those features have been acquired.…

A study investigated the extent to which five Japanese indirectness strategies, used to make indirect requests, transfer to situations in which Japanese learners of English make indirect requests in English. The effects of language proficiency on this transferability were also examined. Subjects were 37 Japanese learners of English as a Second…

Use of complex noun phrases, complex nominals, and other nominalized expressions has been a controversial characteristics of academic and professional writing. To the specialist community it is an indispensable linguistic device that brings precision and clarity and removes ambiguity by promoting text cohesion and facilitating reference to…

Although reliability and validity are characteristics of test data, social scientists often attribute reliability and validity erroneously to the tests themselves. To determine the extent to which this problem exists, 150 reliability and validity studies selected from 3 prominent social science measurement journals over a 3-year period were…

A study of codeswitching patterns in American speakers of Finnish, primarily at the syntactic level, is presented. Subjects are 21 Finnish-English bilinguals aged 8 to 91 years, whose speech in naturally occurring speech situations was recorded and analyzed for intrasentential codeswitching. The analysis looked at (1) how much codeswitching could…

In two previous studies, language learner behavior in which the learner tries to underproduce a certain second-language (L2) structure is termed "avoidance." The current analysis examines whether this is an appropriate term. Avoidance is defined as a genuine strategy resulting from the learner's realization that particular forms of input…

The role of the French language in Flanders, a region of Belgium, is described. First, the region's characteristics are summarized, including its size, population, language distribution, economy, exports, and vacation migration patterns. Next, Belgium's overall linguistic situation, in which each of three regions has its own language, is outlined…

This compilation presents materials related to Andover's Integrated Reading System (AIRS), which provides quality education for first through eighth grade promoting consistency of curricula throughout the system, competence in teaching skills for mastery, student enjoyment of literature, and significant growth in reading scores. The compilation…