Examines three main reasons for the lack of passives in intermediate learners' English: the inherent difficulty of the verbal forms involved; the possible lack of a passive formal equivalent in the learners' first language; and the learners' lack of exposure to suitable texts. (CB)

Distinguishes between four types of English grammar (reference, pedagogical, theoretical, and teach-yourself) according to mode of use and shows how four factors enter into a typology of grammars: mode of use, language of the user, level of the user, and aims of use. (Author/CB)

Examines a very successful popular magazine published between 1899 and 1950 that was devoted to "correct" English usage. Argues that its fundamental aim was to help its readers to know how to conduct themselves in proper (i.e., elite) society. Its longtime editor defended her prescriptive view of English usage and offered many…

Discusses how words function with regard to the reality they represent. Claims that, generally, people substitute descriptions of reality for reality. (JD)

Educators are undermining their profession by borrowing metaphors from business, medicine, and the military to define it. The technologically based language of the 1985 "Report of the California Commission on the Teaching Profession" delimits and subverts less product-oriented ways of thinking that might transform our educational system.…

Discusses trends emerging in the standard French language including the incorporation of a wide variety of marginal language. This marginal language derives from metropolitan slang, youth culture, and technical/professional language, the "francization" of largely American terms, and the systemization of morphological derivations. (MSE)

The authors discuss the meaning of the term "generic" as it applies to nursing education and suggest that it be dropped from the language associated with the field. They also explore the terms "first professional degree" and "second professional degree." (CH)

Notes that children often fail to interpret metaphors correctly and that instruction in basal readers is not always helpful. Offers a strategy that shows students how to figure out metaphors on their own. (FL)

Discusses the positive and negative reactions to Her Majesty's Inspectorate's report, "English from 5 to 16." Argues that, in general, the response was positive, promoting the stance of the report and promoting a view of English as useful, functional, and purposeful. (SRT)

People in a shopping mall were asked to read a paragraph about an achieving woman given the title Miss, Mrs., Ms., or not given a title. Readers of Ms titled paragraph rated her less honest. No effects obtained for other rating dimensions. Results may indicate public acceptance of Ms title. (MCK)

Discusses examples in "Moby Dick" of Melvillean words symptomatic of the significance of Ishmael's rhetorical energy, in order to suggest that Ishmael's language reflects Melville's search for lexical and rhetorical forms that express the democratic impulse. (SRT)

Suggests that during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. the encomium was not a rigid rhetorical genre, but a normative type both stable and elastic. Compares Gorgias and Isocrates' encomia of Helen. (MS)

Krashen's Monitor Model of second language learning is examined critically in light of other research, and a unified, more comprehensive theory combining theories of first and second language learning is called for. (MSE)

Dispels teachers' notions that poetry is hard for the young child and suggests practical ways they can capitalize on most children's delight in language and extend that delight into the enjoyment of literature. (FL)

Discusses the way the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation treats the Norwegian dialects of bokmal and nynorsk and the minority languages of the Same people (Laps) and immigrants who have arrived during the last two decades. Describes the Corporation's language rules for the use of the dialects and the Laps' and the immigrants' languages. (SED)