Explored the relationship between the status of Javanese women and the politeness or formality of their speech. While women typically spoke more politely than men as an expression of their secondary status at home, men cultivated politeness to express their superior status and authority in the wider cultural context. (Author/CB)

Vocabulary development of three children, aged 1;6 to 1;8, who had not yet begun to evidence a vocabulary spurt was followed to determine if these children would eventually have a vocabulary spurt. Results of the study are discussed in the context of the argument that a substantial proportion of children never evidence a vocabulary spurt. (JL)

This study addressed the question of the consistency of rater characteristics over time, and investigated the potential of multifaceted Rasch measurement in exploring this question. The purpose of the research is to investigate the use of these analytical techniques in rater training for the speaking subtest of the Occupational English Test, an…

Examined the attitudes of 169 Japanese university students toward varieties of spoken English. Results found that the students with more instrumental motivation were more positive toward nonnative English accents than those with less instrumental motivation, and that the students' familiarity with accents had an influence on their acceptance of…

Presents a repetition test that was found to be suited in measuring English language proficiency by German students. The construction and administration of the test are explained, and an analysis of its effectiveness is provided. (23 references) (GLR)

In an examination of definition of oral proficiency, this study investigated the phenomenon of variation in questions posed by interviewers at key junctures in the interview process. It is argued that perceptions of oral proficiency are reflected in the extent of accommodation in interviewer questioning. (23 references) (Author/LB)

The validity of mean length of utterance (MLU) and a measure of syntactic complexity were tested against the language assessment, remediation, and screening procedure on spontaneous speech samples from 87 children, concluding that MLU is a valid measure of clausal complexity up to 4:5 and that the measure of syntactic complexity is more valid at…

Argues that U.S. writing instruction is grounded in essayist literacy, which is disadvantageous to minority students. Proposes clarifying the characteristics of this mode and learning about other styles of discourse. Presents a conceptual framework influenced by ethnography. (HB)

Mental terms in mothers' and their childrens' speech at two and three years were studied to examine relationships between maternal and child use. Nineteen mother and child dyads were videotaped for 1 hour on each of 2 days when children were 2;0 and again for 2 1-hour sessions on separate days when they were 3;0. Mental terms were noted. (JL)

This study examined age differences in the extent to which children infer and use a speaker's interpersonal goal to understand speech acts and to examine age differences in the extent to which children select responses that carry implications appropriate to the speaker's interpersonal goal. (15 references) (JL)

This investigation examined the possibility that features necessary for morphology, such as person and number, are absent from the underlying grammars of specifically language-impaired children. (46 references) (JL)

Essay questions, interviews, and personality inventories of 35 male and female college students revealed that the avoidance of sexist language was linked to less traditional sex role views and a lesser adherence to fundamentalist Christian beliefs. (DM)

Examination of the effects of oral proficiency interview (OPI) testing on third-, fourth-, and fifth-year high school foreign language students found significant correlations between student performance at the higher OPI levels and on achievement tests as well as providing a sense of common direction to teachers and programs. (26 references)…

Analysis of kindergarten students'"pretend reading" of a wordless picture book indicated that the well-read-to children possessed implicit knowledge of the role of the writer of narrative by providing appropriate information and creating constrained and vivid images solely through linguistic means. (17 references) (Author/CB)

Describes two models for providing feedback to students participating in English-as-a-Second-Language courses and offers guidelines for creating instruments to use in these classrooms. (13 references) (GLR)