National concern for the need for improved education in foreign languages and international studies has met with some response from some states. In Illinois, the response began with a state task force and a five-year educational plan, and current planning is being done in the context of economic development and educational reform needs in the…

This profile in outline form of the English language teaching situation in Thailand discusses the role of English within Thai society and within the educational system. Areas covered include English language requirements and English within the curriculum, teaching personnel and teacher training, instructional materials, English outside the…

The official endorsement given to second languages by both the provincial and federal governments in Canada is reviewed, and reasons why second languages may be an important component of a basic education program are proposed. The question of which second language might be taught in schools is also addressed. The agreement to cooperate with the…

This paper reports on results of a questionnaire survey of 84 schools representing 25,928 Afrikaans-speaking pupils in the Cape Province of South Africa. The survey revealed that only 13 of the teachers were English-speaking; the rest were Afrikaans-speaking. Most of the children never hear English out of school, or hear it under conditions…

Intended for people with little or no training in linguistics, this book initially deals with such basic concepts as the definition of linguistics, the nature of language, and the linguistic variations within a society. The discussion then moves to a more detailed, non-historical analysis of language structure, focusing on lexical items,…

Representational competence refers to the individual's capability to respond appropriately to external representations. For example, a child engaged in a grouping task may collect together all like objects even if the group contains varying representations of the object, including (1) the object itself, (2) a three-dimensional likeness of the…

This report summarizes the language background information and certain demographic characteristics of language minorities in the United States. The data were derived from the Survey of Languages, a pilot study of the non-English-language background population aged four and older sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics as part of…

Thirty informants were presented with sets of clauses punctuated as in the pattern "S1. If S2. S3" and asked which clause, S1 or S3, the "if" clause modified. Independently, several linguists judged the sentences "S1, if S2" and "S2, if S3" acceptable. Missing intonational clues or improper punctuation,…

This study examined acquisition and development of children's social/symbolic and strategic communication abilities within a sociolinguistic model of communicative competence. The major theoretical perspective was derived from Mead's symbolic interactionism and the cognitive-developmental theories of Piaget and Werner. Role-taking was the central…

This report is an attempt at revising the 1961 Fife-Nelsen report's list of priority African languages. In making decisions regarding priorities, the following kinds of data are considered most useful: statistical data on the languages involved, such as where the languages are spoken and how many people speak them; data on the cultural role of…

This article explains the linguistic situation in Greece and the condition of diglossia that has arisen there through the use of common Modern Greek, developing from the Athenian dialect into a medium of communication used by all Greeks, and the use of Katharevusa, the "pure" or "purifying" language which is supposedly an imitation of Ancient…

The great diversity in the linguistic backgrounds of children in Trinidad could be a significant factor in problems in English language learning and teaching. To investigate this possibility, teachers have been completing questionnaires concerning the linguistic background and regular exposure to Hindi, French Creole, Spanish, or Chinese, of some…

This case study describes the language development of a preschool child exposed to Spanish in her home environment and to English outside the family. It is the parents' hope that the child will learn to speak, read, and write Spanish first, while learning to speak English before entering school. Her progress is described in this report, as are…

Any decisions regarding the language of instruction will have long-term effects on the child's life both during and after his school years. Unfortunately, language is only one facet of the total problem. In any discussion of education involving people who are culturally and linguistically different, various factors come into play, factors which…

Sociolinguistic studies of spoken Arabic show at least three varieties at different levels of prestige: (1) Modern Standard Arabic (MSA); (2) regional standard with local prestige; and (3) vernacular varieties. The social function of the local prestigious nonstandard features can override the influence of the prestige of MSA. (Author/LMO)