The purpose of this report is to explore academic language on a broader discourse-level of analysis. Examining three linguistic exchanges from a bilingual elementary school, the report discusses how academic tasks influence academic language discourse styles (registers) in fifth-grade class lessons. Two dominant theories are drawn from the…

This study: (1) examined assumptions made about development of second-language writing skills by the teaching profession, as reflected in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines, and (2) investigated the relationship between those assumptions and actual skills development, as reflected in the work…

The unitary competence theory claims the existence of a general language proficiency that makes the global evaluation of language skills possible and accounts for the high correlations between language tests of whatever form and modality. This study aims to test the theory by investigating the correlation between reading and listening…

This report discusses the teaching of French intonation through computerized instruction. In particular, the development of a computer program for teaching French intonation is described and explained. The first part of the report examines the role of oral language instruction in French, including a history and overview of methodologies. The…

A study investigating the discrepancy between potential and actual use of computer software in elementary education is described. Fifth- and sixth-grade students participating in a computer literacy program in one school were surveyed by questionnaire and interview about the feedback provided in a specific piece of cartooning and creative writing…

Numerous easily accessible databases cover almost every subject area in the humanities. The principal database resources in the humanities are described. There are two major database vendors for humanities information: BRS (Bibliographic Retrieval Services) and DIALOG Information Services, Inc. As an introduction to online searching, this article…

This study investigated the effects of systematic use of similarities between the native and second languages on the lexical competence of second language learners. Subjects were 209 first- and second-year English-speaking university students in French language classes. The students were pre- and post-tested for their visual recognition of…

This paper explores the issue of the acquisition of English word stress by ESL learners whose mother tongue is Cantonese. Based on the theoretical framework of metrical phonology, this study examines the following parameters related to English word stress: branching versus non-branching rime structures, dominance in the metrical foot and the word…

This study investigated whether "avoidance" is an appropriate term to describe the linguistic behavior in which the learner with a particular first-language (L1) background tries to underproduce or underrepresent a particular second-language (L2) structure. The first section seeks to establish the general psycholinguistic principle that…

Drawing on research on techniques for scaffolding in speech therapy for victims of Alzheimer's Disease, some considerations in determining appropriate scaffolding in speech therapist-client interactions at four levels of interaction (initial, those involving early language activities, discourse interactions, and turn-taking) are discussed.…

A discussion of the translation of fiction focuses on metaphors in the speech of characters. Illustrations are drawn from an Afrikaans novel, "Fiela se kind" ("Fiela's Child"), translated into English by its author, Dalene Matthee. It is argued that if the interdependence of the intratextual components of narrative texts is not…

A study of distance teaching of modern languages in institutions around the world is reported. An introductory section provides an overview of the status and role of distance education in modern language learning, including an examination of related linguistic and educational theory, the objectives of distance language instruction, the behaviorist…

This book attempts to counter the fears of many native English speakers and educators that the recent surge of speakers of English as a Second Language (ESL) into U.S. universities and U.S. society as a whole represents a threat to the integrity of U.S. pedagogy and culture. More specifically, the book wrestles with the questions: What does it…

This paper describes a coding system devised to analyze conversations of graduate students in applied linguistics at Edinburgh University. The system was devised to test the hypothesis that as shared knowledge among conversation participants grows, the textual density of in-group members has more cues than that of strangers. The informal…

A study investigated the language transfer hypothesis in the specific area of second-language spelling. Data collected from 84 secondary school students learning Spanish as a second language show that in general, performance in English spelling is the best predictor of performance in Spanish spelling. Other variables included performance on a…