Two sociocultural value clusters that predict an English-as-a-Second-language and an English-as-a-Foreign-Language approach are juxtaposed, respectively, to English language acquisition management. The two approaches are described in educational terms and related to the changing functions of English in the world and to national language…

Investigated effects of predicate usage, facilitative skill level, and participant sex on ratings of empathic understanding. After listening to one of four audiotapes utilizing different counselor response modes, subjects (n=225) evaluated counselor empathy. Findings suggest that counselor communication skill level seems to be more important than…

This paper discusses language in use, focusing on English, including definitions of language as well as how it has been and how it should be taught inside and outside the classroom. Impact of this information on the process of evaluation of hearing-impaired students' language is also considered. (Author/PB)

Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, this article examines the language and literacy needs of immigrants to Canada. A Toronto-based case study portrays a group of Latin American adults and their daily uses of English and Spanish. Literacy needs in both languages are noted, as is the contradiction of government commitment to…

This study investigated the use of generic noun phrases by preschool children and their mothers. Results indicate striking differences in the way generics and non-generics are distributed in the speech of both groups, suggesting generic noun phrases differ in their semantics and conceptual organization from non-generics and may reflect children's…

Discusses the maintenance initiatives taken up by the Karelians, an indigenous Finno-Ugrian minority in Russia. Suggests that Karelian, despite its Russian influence, has preserved its basic structure and feasibility, and that future maintenance depends on active use. (Author/VWL)

Questions the distinction between "natural" and "instructed" language learning. Introduces two extracts in which adolescents use Panjabi as a second language in peer-group recreation, and then shows how these contradict orthodox images of natural acquisition and classroom learning. (Author/VWL)

An African American teacher of English discusses her own experience with black English as a barrier to academic success, her efforts to assure that her own students speak standard English and to understand why many teachers do not stress this and the need to understand why many African American students do not use standard English despite its…

Discusses problems in the classification of ethnic groups by language, focusing on the case of a marginal Chinese group from northeast Vietnam and the shifting of ethnic identity according to geographic location. Influences of colonialism and nationalist feeling in this dilemma are examined. (MSE)

Presents a case study of an experienced professor's comments on a design report in a first-year engineering class. Compares these comments with the commenting styles of technical-writing teachers. Finds the comments are highly directive and at odds with the preference for facilitative comments prevailing in composition studies. Notes that…

Argues that some important aspects of listening as an interactive skill have been neglected in second-language teaching, including the receipt tokens "yeah,""mm hm," and "mm," and that such items should be taught as part of the development of conversational skills. Characteristics of these items' placement in talk sequences, prosodic shape, pause…

Shares information about how four African American vernacular English speakers have successfully used their language abilities--the language of their everyday lives--within the context of their expository writing. Discusses principles that have guided one teacher in her work with language diverse students. (TB)

This study examined patterns of interaction in conversations between native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English among 48 NS-NNS dyads of elementary school students in Australia. Results found that NSs used negotiation strategies and recasts to provide negative feedback to their NNS peers. Contains 57 references. (MDM)

Studied number use in language by preschool children and their mothers during cooking experiences. Found that although children used a variety of number words, mothers made greater use of number words than did children. Strong relationship between reciprocal numeracy episodes (between mother and child) and child's number use suggests that adult…

Identifies components of a course on multiculturalism in teacher education. The course proposes these stages of awareness: (1) ethnic identity exploration; (2) development of knowledge in language and literacy acquisition; (3) refinement of a repertoire for cultural ways of teaching and learning; and (4) selection of a teaching style. (SLD)