Russian word order is varied to suit the communicative requirements of the speaker. The present study tests the hypothesis that American students of Russian use word order differently from native speakers, using the same order for different communicative tasks. Study results support the hypothesis. (CHK)

A detailed description of the "Dictionnaire contextual de francais pour la geologie." This study is used as an example of such a dictionary serving as a basic tool in the study of functional French. Such dictionaries can be useful in conceptual approaches to language learning. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

This article discusses the notion of acquiring a basic threshold of communicative competence in a second language as it applies to the instruction of French as a second language. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

A description of a study which tried to establish the sequence of language development in a language other than English (Farsi) and to measure the syntactic complexity of the first language against that of the second. Results indicate a direction toward the construction of better course materials and tests. (AMH)

The two studies reported examine changes in the control over inflections of New Zealand children aged 5-10 years. The progress of White New Zealand children with English as their mother tongue is contrasted with the progress of urban Maori children and urban Samoan children in Auckland. (Author/DB)

The teacher of English to non-native speakers needs information not available in a descriptive English grammar. This article examines the teacher's grammatical needs with reference to article usage in English and proposes an outline of one section of such a teaching grammar. Items discussed are "a,""the,""-s" and "some." (CHK)

Productive language is where both recent innovative efforts and the most severe problems are. Two problems to be answered are decisions about the assessment situation and about focal aspects of communicative competence to be assessed in them. Two examples of current work are inserted from papers prepared by the staff of the High/Scope Educational…

Traces recent developments in the Supreme Court's view of the responsibilities of school districts to offer educational programs for linguistic-minority students. Also outlines various conceptions of appropriate instruction for these students ranging from English as a Second Language (ESL) to bilingual-bicultural programs. (Author/RK)

Critically examines papers by Wellman and Estes, Olson and Torrance, and Hall and Nagy. (AEW)

Responds to criticism of an earlier (1984) paper in which it was argued that the complements of Welsh control and raising verbs should be analyzed as verb phrases (VPs) and not as clauses with empty subjects. The l984 position is defended against the traditional analysis in the three critiqued areas.

Presents arguments for and against: the theoretical acceptance of language skills breakdown; the Unitary Competence Hypothesis/General Language Proficiency theory; and the existence of a separate listening comprehension factor in language ability. Also considered is the technique of factor analysis in language research. (CB)

Surveys 154 French, German, and Spanish language program directors in American univerities, offering a doctorate in foreign language fields, to find the extent to which applied and educational linguistics figure in their educational background and research interests. (Author/LMO)

Describes major events and achievements during TESOL's first 20 years. Outlines three challenges which TESOL and its membership face: administrative, financial, and geopolitical. (Author/LMO)

Investigates whether Universal Grammar (UG) is accessible to adult language learners. Advanced Korean adult acquirers of English were given a test of grammaticality judgements on English "wh-" sentences, where the relevant constraints are thought to derive from principles of UG. Clear UG effects were found. Sample instruction sheet given…

Links are drawn between text theories, both linguistic and semiotic, and the teaching of writing. Presents class activities designed to motivate students and teach good writing based on these theories. (MSE)