Argues that English is the major international language at least in part because it is the dominant world language of science and technology, and suggests that no country can afford to ignore the important role English plays in information access and technology transfer and still expect to compete professionally and economically. (Author/CB)

Seeks answers to two questions using an informal Functions of Print Test: (1) are kindergartners aware of the functions of print, and (2) what do kindergartners view as the reasons for reading in our society? Finds, in general, children are aware of the functions of print and recognize the purpose for reading. (NH)

The decline in the instruction of "close reading" and in interest in the power of language is to blame for students' frustration with and lack of interest in literature. Students want to believe in literature and language but don't know how. (MSE)

Observes that George Henry, with his speculations about the centrality of language for English education, has provided an insight into more effective English education preservice programs. (HOD)

Using Susanne Langer's concepts of presentational and discursive symbolism, constructs a theory of text production that describes presentation and discourse and relations between them as major components in the evolution of text from thought to written language. Concludes by examining the implications of this theory for understanding students'…

A participant in a British teacher workshop that focused on student talk describes the progress of the group toward defining the types of language they wanted to focus on in the classroom and the group's publication of weekly progress reports. (HTH)

This article, reporting a study of teacher attitudes toward the linguistic situation in their Caribbean communities, suggests that the social values attached to varieties of English in Creole Communities must be regarded as substantially different from those which obtain in more usual dialect situations. (POP)

The impact of radio and television on spoken and written language is discussed by a professor emeritus of Romance philology. Consideration is given to the relationship between the degeneration of language and the degeneration of customs and moral standards. (LBH)

By examining the works of classic American authors, this book presents the idea that individual human beings can break free of the structures of thought into which they are born and that, by reimagining the world, can change it. In chapters on Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, Edith Wharton, Richard Wright, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abraham…

A study examined the use of the ethnic language as it relates to ethnic self-identification in three generations of a bilingual family of Mexican origin in San Antonio (Texas). Family members were speakers of Texas Spanish and English. Two questionnaires and follow-up discussions examined fluency in Spanish and English; language preferences;…

Papers, all in French, address four issues concerning linguistics and language in Quebec: language quality and linguistic reality; linguistic politics and the future of French in Quebec; the linguist's role in modern society; and dictionaries. Each section includes an untitled, substantive introduction and several papers. Papers include:…

In Appalachian life and literature the past is intensely present. Many Appalachian college students buy into the myth of meritocracy, a myth which blames poverty on the poor and refuses to acknowledge the financial and social resources needed for success in this country. Part of their disregard for themselves and/or their neighbors has to do with…

The book presents the following papers and transcriptions of debates: "One Country, Two Systems, Three Languages" (Sue Wright); "The Background to Language Change in Hong Kong" (Godfrey Harrison, Lydia K. H. So); "Aspects of the Two Languages System and Three Language Problem in the Changing Society of Hong Kong"…

Article assesses the relationship between sociology and psychology. In it author suggests that one problem of sociology is that of attracting a fringe of uninformed followers who may spawn false or easy-going prescriptions for the social ills of the times. (Editor/RK)