Teaching modern standard English means eliminating instruction of outmoded or questionable usage distinctions so that more time can be devoted to spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence structure. (Author)

Outlines a procedure for predicting the appropriateness of signing as a communicative technique for individuals with speaking impairments. The procedure compares a potential learner's motor control with those necessary for the handshapes, location, and movements of a compiled vocabulary. A procedure for predicting future possible vocabulary is…

Discusses two basic areas of difference between British and American English, namely the complementation of certain participles and the complementation of certain verbs. Complementation after "concerned" and "interested" is illustrated by several examples taken from speech and from newspaper advertisements. (AMH)

Discusses the difficulty in recognizing and expressing the formation of concession and counter-assertion. Words like "although" and "if," while familiar in other contexts, present problems when used for these functions. While the markers for concession are interchangeable, those for counter-assertion are not. Two different types of…

"Bu" can negate noun phrases. This article attempts to determine what the parent structures are from which noun-bu-noun is derived, to describe the general property of N-bu-N, to examine the conditions under which N-bu-N is used, and to contrast it with other structures of similar usage. (Author/PJM)

Comments on the relationship between secondary and postsecondary education in Ontario, Canada--the subject of a massive study undertaken by the provincial government. (RL)

Describes the characteristics of academic language (mature expository prose; the formal English of college textbooks). Discusses theoretical and practical issues involved in the procedures for selecting and teaching academic vocabulary, and suggests teaching ideas, techniques, and materials. (RL)

Suggests an exercise to help students stop using incorrect word forms, which involves students in choosing a word, defining it, using it correctly in a sentence, and finding five other words using the original word as a root. (TJ)

Discusses information theory and the notions of uncertainty and semantic choice in child language. (AM)

Presents a method of contrasting sociocultural patterns through a contrastive analysis of linguistic forms and their usage across cultures. Examples are provided for English and Tagalog. (AM)

Lists the Spanish verbs most frequently used, in order of frequency. (NCR)

Gives an overview of the language situation on Ponape, with reference to social structure. (AM)

Caste and language in the Jaffna Hindu Tamil society were correlated based on data collected from sample villages in the Jaffna peninsula, where the political and economic ascendancy of the landlords was very dominant in the recent past. (SW)

Studies the use of language in social interaction by severely retarded adolescents by focusing on the relationship between communication in structured experimental situations and behavior in a normal communicative environment. (CM)

Answering the question "How does pragmadidactics compare with traditional teaching?," the article discusses the "success criterion," i.e., judging successful communication as opposed to language correctness. Considers also the concept of a functional learner's grammar, "idiomatic language," and pragmadidactic…