Discusses the use of prepositional phrases as subjects and objects through consideration and analysis of: (1) characteristics of such phrases; (2) category status of prepositional phrases in typical noun phrase positions; and (3) sentences containing prepositional phrases in typical noun phrase positions. (CB)

The effects of four major types of expository text on the comprehension performance of 69 third and 69 sixth graders were investigated. Results suggest that knowledge of discourse types underlies effective expository comprehension and that this ability increases as children reach the upper elementary grades. (BS)

Analyzes a group of children who had been matched for English proficiency and socioeconomic status at the beginning of a school year but who differed in their school achievement at the end of that year. Considers competence in morphology, syntax, and vocabulary; verbosity; patterns of social interaction; first language performance; and personality…

Concludes that it is time for teachers to be more critical of the commercial materials and classroom practices commonly used to sensitize children to different semantic cues and morphological units. Argues that without a firm knowledge of context clues and morphemes on the part of teachers, the teaching of these skills will remain incidental. (FL)

For many years rhetoric and grammar were linked in foreign language education, and then they drifted apart. More recently, pragmatics, the study of meaning related to language use in a natural context, has returned and appears in some form in the communicative approach, situational language instruction, and the notional functional approach. (MSE)

After citing factors (mainly the influence of linguistics and television) which have contributed to the present decline in correct English usage, ways are listed in which educators can teach students to write and speak correctly and effectively. (HD)

Presents a grid for analyzing language learning materials based on certain sociolinguistic criteria. (CLK)

The concept of autonomy in second language learning is explored by tracing some steps in the evolution of theory and practice. The first section relates one definition of learner autonomy ("the ability to take charge of one's learning") to self-instruction in language learning and to research in language learning at the adult level. The…

Two experimental language-learning textbooks were developed in collaboration with Apache-speaking scholars from the San Carlos and White Mountain Reservations. One was written in the grammar-translation tradition and modeled after successful textbooks for Navajo and Papago. While the text's main purpose is to teach elementary conversational…

This survey of the world's written languages consists of a series of historical sketches of different languages, each including a table of signforms in their standard order and their variations, but focusing primarily on how the sounds of the language are represented in writing. A brief text in the language(s) the script is used for is also…

Through examination of the discourse markers "ano" and "sono" in Japanese, this paper explores how these linguistic devices function differently in conversation. The focus of this analysis is the mental and social functions through which a speaker attempts to achieve an interpersonal rapport with a listener. In particular, the…

This journal is dedicated to the exchange of ideas related to language instruction in all its aspects--teaching, learning, and research. Each issue contains several articles presenting the latest findings on language teaching, learning, classroom strategies and techniques, and scholarly and applied research. Regular features include book reviews…

This paper discusses the relationship between mother tongue, foreign language, and thinking. It is based on a pilot study carried out with 30 Finnish university students majoring in English philology. All students filled in a questionnaire and four were selected for an interview. In the questionnaires and interviews, the students were asked to…

This study investigated the presence or absence of two new functional features at a later stage of second language (L2) acquisition by Korean learners of English. It tested the predictions of the Failed Functional Features Hypothesis, which says that new features of functional categories in a second language are not acquirable beyond the critical…

This book provides comprehensive resources for the critical discussion of major issues in learning to read Chinese from a child acquisition perspective. It is divided into 4 parts and 11 chapters. Part 1, "Theoretical Perspectives on Learning to Read" includes "Current Issues in Learning To Read Chinese" (Ovid J.L. Tzeng),…