Of the 300 or so native languages once spoken in North America, only about 150 are still spoken--and the majority of those have just a handful of mostly elderly speakers. For most Native American languages, colleges and universities are their last great hope, if not their final resting place. People at a number of institutions across the country…

Corpus-based research has shown that the frequency of use of particular grammatical structures and lexis in English is not always congruent with the content or ordering of explicit rules in pedagogical materials. The present study provides an additional example from French, focusing on word-order rules related to adjective position and the…

Since the Oakland Unified School District passed its resolution on Ebonics in 1998, Ebonics has been a lightning rod for controversy of all sorts. The utilitarian intent of the original resolution was lost as the debate of Ebonics became intensely political and, to a great extent, marred by existing patterns of racial hierarchy and stigmatization.…

This paper examines the patterns of language choice and the construction of L2 learning opportunities in foreign language learners' social networks by focusing on how these patterns and opportunities are socially structured in a Japanese language learner's natural interactions. It is based on a range of data, including a script of on-line chat…

This study reflects a social constructivist theoretical framework in which the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a central element, as two teaching approaches, communicative language teaching (CLT) and explicit focus on form (FonF) are examined. Research questions include: Are CLT and explicit FonF conducive to reaching the ZPD? Is there a…

The study of language--whether it is called grammar or linguistics--deserves a place in the composition course. This journal article suggests that there are better methods of teaching language lessons than the negative, error-correction and error-avoidance methods that still prevail. The study of grammar may be characterized as a means to bringing…

Some insights into the nature of functional grammar can be useful for teachers of composition. There are four ways that functional grammar stands in opposition to common linguistics in the United States. First, for functionalists (those practicing functional grammar), the starting point is with kinds of meanings, not with kinds of structures; the…

Sex differences in language use have been examined for many years, but no clear-cut conclusions exist. A meta-analysis of the existing literature was conducted regarding powerful/powerless language use, including 30 studies, with a total combined sample size of 3,012. The overall correlation indicated that men use more powerful language than…

After beginning primary of English-as-a-Second-Language students learn phonetics and are advanced into spelling, reading, writing and vocabulary development, this practical spelling dictionary is suitable for general use and is edited for special use with "The Writing Road to Reading" and "America's Spelling & Reading with…

The 33 activities in this book reinforce the rules of written English by providing students with practice in editing a variety of formats. The activities help students develop a basic understanding of the rules of grammar and mechanics (generally taught in grades 8 and up) in context and exercise their critical thinking abilities by identifying…

An annotated bibliography by Raymond Preiss published in 1986 focused on Language Intensity in relation to persuasion. By contrast, this new 37-item annotated bibliography takes a broader look at probability language to expand upon Preiss's collection of sources, including some earlier and some later sources. Noting that the literature on logical…

This paper addresses the spatiotemporal, discourse and emotional or connotative functions of demonstratives in Aklanon narrative discourse. The demonstrative system of Aklanon in terms of the spatial relation between speaker and hearer is described. Discourse functions of demonstratives (exophoric, endophoric, cataphoric, and anaphoric reference)…

This content analysis examined 84 articles, published between 1950 and 1990, in order to discover and describe the conceptual trends in environmental social thought and to achieve three goals: (1) to write a brief history of ecological beliefs and to clarify the distinction between the ecocentric and anthropocentric perspectives; (2) to compare…

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to a number of syntactic phenomena in modern English, specifically but not exclusively in British English, that can be characterized as urban/suburban near-standard usage. These phenomena are representative of a type of feature that has to date received relatively little attention from linguists. One…

This composition manual explains how to write a student essay: planning, organizing, and revising. It also offers standards for bibliography, format, grammar, and punctuation. (CNP)