The teaching of discourse features which affect the relations among sentences in a paragraph has often been delayed until students are considered advanced. Yet, because control of such features is considered essential to gaining control of language segments, instruction in these features should be given from the beginning. One category of…

Contrastive analysis is suggested as a tool in language teaching for such areas as: (1) deciding how much to focus on different aspects of the target language; (2) making generalizations about its structure; and (3) explaining texts or constructions which might otherwise be incomprehensible. The claim is made that such procedures need to be based…

This study of language development was intended to chart the developmental course of the spontaneous use of negatives and affirmatives by 1 1/2 - 3-year-olds in response to true or false statements concerning familiar objects, properties, and actions. Forty children, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of age, were assessed for knowledge of the words used…

This practical book is designed for the classroom teacher of a second or foreign language at any level. The articles are grouped into two distinct but interdependent sections on general considerations and specific techniques. The contents of the first section are as follows: "Moi Tarzan, Vous Jane?: A Study of Communicative Competence" by P.B.…

This paper explores the relationship between communication style and organizational effectiveness. The first section of the paper reviews eight empirical studies that illustrate the importance of communication style in organizational effectiveness. The second section of the paper discusses management functions and particular communication styles…

The relationship between first-grade reading achievement and selected experimental language measures was investigated. The measures selected for study were (1) number of T-units (communication units) spoken in an experimental situation, (2) mean length of T-unit, (3) ratio of subordinate clause length to T-unit length, (4) ratio of…

THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD "LANGUAGE" CAN BE LIMITED TO MEAN "A VOCAL AND AUDITORY MEANS OF COMMUNICATION, WHICH WORKS BY THE SYMBOLIC PROCESS, WHICH HAS A COMPLEX STRUCTURE, AND WHICH IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING SO LONG AS IT REMAINS IN USE." THERE ARE SIX IMPLICATIONS OF THIS DEFINITION--(1) ALTHOUGH LANGUAGE IS PRIMARILY AUDITORY AND VOCAL, IT CAN…

THIS PAPER DOCUMENTS THE GENERAL CONDITIONS OF DISADVANTAGED AMERICANS AND EXAMINES THE PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS WHICH GROW OUT OF THEM. SPECIFIC STATISTICS ARE REPORTED WHICH DESCRIBE INADEQUATE MEDICAL SERVICES FOR NEGROES, POOR HEALTH, POVERTY LEVEL INCOMES, AND EDUCATIONAL RETARDATION. THE PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL FACTORS DISCUSSED INCLUDE VISUAL…

Approximately 60 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children were administered a language test constructed to determine theirlanguage usage levels and limitations. Half of the children were classified as Head Start and half as middle class. The language test involved the presentation of strings of three to seven phonemes organized on five levels of…

This study (partially supported by an ESEA Title III Grant) of the written composition of 190 above-average children in grades 3-6 was carried out to determine whether those children who were taught selected concepts of invention, arrangement, and style over a period of 8 months would demonstrate significant improvement in composition or sentence…

This study examined the hypothesis of a linear, bipolar continuum, with the principles of oral language at one end and those of written language at the other. Six sources of language were identified and arranged along the continuum, to reflect their underlying governing principles: spontaneous oral language of children, children's folk songs,…

Based on transcribed conversations with black children in kindergarten and the intermediate grades, a study was devised to determine whether black urban children from lower socioeconomic areas speak a systematic, consistent form of nonstandard English, and if so, to provide a syntactical analysis of the dialect of nonstandard speakers. Speech…

The significance of three mothers' speech for their infants' language development is considered in a continuing longitudinal study. The study began when the children (two females and one male) were 5 and 6 months of age and will continue until the subjects are 3 years old. In the speech data reported the children were from 6 to 18 months of age.…

Contrastive analysis is vitally associated with foreign language teaching. A competent bilingual's intuition about the relationship of the forms in the two languages is the most important part of the valid data for analysis. By means of contrastive analysis major grammatical problems for American students learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) noun…

This paper discusses the profession of teaching English as a second language. The problems encountered in classes taught by untrained amateurs are discussed, and the strategies of the professional teacher are outlined. She or he begins by finding out who the students are, what they need to know, and how they will have to use English. In this way,…