Draws on sociocultural theories of language and learning and research on bilingual families to examine home language practices of trilingual-immersion students. Ethnography was used to explore daily language use at home, children's views of their identity as trilingual, families' values of maintenance and additional language learning, and reasons…

Examines and compares current trends in applied linguistics (AL) research methods in China and the West. Reviews AL articles in four Chinese journals, from 1978-1997, and four English journals from 1985 to 1997. Articles are categorized and subcategorized. Results show that in China, AL research is heading from non-empirical toward empirical, with…

Investigated the efficacy of integrating task-based e-mail activities into a process-oriented English-as-Second-Language (ESL) writing class. Particular focus was on the linguistic characteristics of 132 pieces of e-mail writing by ESL students in tasks that differed in terms of purpose, audience interaction, and task structure. Computerized text…

Discusses a longitudinal experimental study concerned with the second-language acquisition of argument structure and its relationship with case theory. French and English intermediate learners of Spanish as a second language were tested three times over a period of eight months on their knowledge of dative experiencers. Results indicate that the…

A study investigated the importance of three elements of intonation (tone units, key, prominence) in three readers of English radio news. Results indicate intonation is used to present the structure of information as the speaker intends it to be interpreted. Intonation functions can be categorized simply under a few discourse functions easily…

A study in interlanguage pragmatics investigated the effect of three types of rejoinder (positive, negative, absent) on non-native informants' choices of strategies to perform complaints, requests, and apologies. Results show strategy choice differentially affected by rejoinder type, suggesting that findings from studies using different production…

The Standards for Foreign Language Learning present a definition of language teaching that includes the sociolinguistic and cultural aspects of language. The article analyzes the concept of communicative competence as used by sociolinguists and anthropologists and examines some of the components of communication (interpersonal, interpretive, and…

Examines the constraints on the realization of "/t/" in New Zealander English. On the basis of an examination of the speech of two similar speakers from that country, a series of allophonic rules is provided. The article shows that the distribution of allophones for these speakers is not the same as for other speakers who have been…

Argues that much of language acquisition is sequence learning and that the resultant long-term knowledge base of language sequences serves as the database for grammar acquisition. The article also proposes mechanisms to analyze sequence information that result in knowledge of underlying grammar. (184 references) (Author/CK)

Clarifies the teaching of academic language functions (ALFs) at the secondary level. It is recommended that teaching should emphasize concepts underlyng ALFs, the forms for realizing them, and their names. Some pedagogic implications of the microfunction-macrofunction difference are outlined, and suggestions are given for teaching each type. (25…

This article examines the multiple factors necessary to attainment of transcultural competence for language specialists in educational settings. Issues discussed include structural linguistics, psycholinguistics, social psychological issues, and, most important, sociolinguistics. Cultural issues in the client-therapist-teacher relationship are…

Describes a research project that is concerned with the design procedures followed by those engaged in designing pedagogic tasks for use in classrooms. Focuses on the part of the project that involves actual observation of designers in the process of developing one specific task for class use. Findings are presented under three headers: control…

Investigates expressions of gratitude in Japanese and American English, focusing on the sociocultural factors influencing the deeper level of these expressions. Data are collected through the written answers to the discourse completion test, which has ten different situations designed to elicit a variety of expressions of gratitude from the…

A reading-specific multiple classification task was designed that required children to classify printed words along phonological and semantic dimensions simultaneously. Reading-specific multiple classification skill made a unique contribution to children's reading comprehension over contributions made by age, domain-general multiple classification…

Examines the training provided for French early childhood educators. Demonstrates that current emphasis on specialized knowledge domains is not adapted to early years education and disregards children's contributions to the learning process. Maintains that training in linguistics and psychology would better equip educators to stimulate children's…