Are new labels for stigmatized groups of students merely new packaging for old meanings? Is this linguistic illusion of change an aspect of education as an institution and of educators as a speech community? To address these questions, this paper examines labels popularized in the 1960s--"culturally deprived/disadvantaged," and "at-risk," a label…

One way to make it possible for students to write intelligible composition in a foreign language is to provide them with a knowledge and understanding of the bilingual dictionary at the beginning of the composition course. A unit on dictionary usage is presented that was designed for use with students in a third-year college Spanish composition…

The role and status of English instruction in Italy is outlined. The role of English in Italy as a whole, English instruction within the educational system, the availability and training of language teachers, textbook selection and use, English outside the educational system, current research, American and British support for English instruction,…

Teachers who restrict their teaching of writing to elements of exposition are likely to fail because there is insufficient content, interest, or challenge in learning simple exposition, and the techniques that contribute to polished exposition are more easily accessible when approached through aesthetic writing. A teaching sequence for using…

Both language students and language teachers can be troubled by new words, expressions, or usage in Chinese. A new use of an old word or expression is particularly difficult for a more advanced or experienced speaker, less so for a beginner. The growing popularity of abbreviations is another kind of change creating problems. Two kinds of…

A conscious understanding of the grammar system can have value for student writers. Unfortunately, the positive value of teaching grammar in an instrumental, or functional, way has been overshadowed by the negative and irrelevant data concerning "formal grammar." However, if teachers were to use "rhetorical grammar" and emphasize the importance of…

This study analyzes how two bilingual classroom language distribution approaches affect classroom language use patterns. The two strategies, separate instruction in the two languages vs. the new concurrent language usage approach (NCA) allowing use of both languages with strict guidelines for language alternation, are observed on videotapes of a…

Knowledge of a language requires more than mastery of grammar; effective communication includes social and cultural aspects of language use, such as speaking volume and intonation, conventions of politeness, and set social formulas. The language teacher must be aware of these rules to convey them to students. (CHK)

Examines the nature of communication symbols in American society in an attempt to interpret features of racist language. See CS 703 548 for availability. (MH)

Presents results of the application of the matched guise--a method requiring respondents to evaluate the personality traits of speakers whose tape-recorded voices are played to them--to a sample of bilingual Saint Lucians. Results indicate that Saint Lucian bilinguals have different evaluative reactions to their two languages, English and a French…

This article discusses consonant symbolism, that is, a process of modification or alternation of consonants, insofar as it relates to Yokuts. (CLK)

An examination of the language of the disadvantaged, particularly black dialect, exploring the conflicting views of the deficit and difference model theorists. The necessity of distinguishing between meaning and structure is emphasized as a potential avenue of reconciliation for the two divergent perspectives. (EH)

In reviewing views on the use of L1 in L2 classrooms, the author argues for the benefits of using L1. The author argues for the benefits of written translation activities based on the ideas that translation uses authentic materials, is interactive, learner-centered, and promotes learner autonomy. The author also argues that written translation…

Contrary to the pattern of many changes in French usage, the gradual loss of "ne" follows a continum from speakers who always omit it to those who never do, and considerable divergence may be shown in familiar versus formal language. Qualitative and quantitative perspectives are examined. (Text is in French.) (Author/MSE)

The language experience approach is a reading methodoloy that is highly organized, highly structured, and very systematic, but that allows teachers to teach without texts. It is a multiple, variegated set of activities designed to serve one purpose, namely, the instructional use of pupil's own language. As such, there are five interrelated aspects…