Discusses the use of offensive and biased language in the labor force. Suggests methods to help current and potential managers control biased language problems. (MS)

Meaningful and relevant tests of oral competence in foreign languages must address problems impeding communicative competence such as lack of student motivation, unimaginative questions, inhibitive personal questions, and pictorial tests. Examples of test questions are presented in French. (CB)

Evaluation of Chinese-speaking students' responses to a "Reporting Test" of oral proficiency in English as a foreign language indicated that the test may be valid and applicable for assessing oral proficiency. (CB)

A review of recent language research regarding the black English vernacular (BEV) considers new developments involving (1) the grammars of elderly and young speakers; (2) indications that BEV is not decreolizing but is actually diverging from white speech; and (3) the effect of contemporary developments on differences between black and white…

Describes a process called narrative theater that involves (1) the exploration of texts and the stories likely embedded within them, (2) a learning process that involves the creation of drama contexts, and (3) the use of theater conventions. (SRT)

Explores the consequences of not developing competence in oral forms of the second language, which is the intermediate step in the recommended sequence of bilingual literacy development. (JK)

Discusses different characteristics of conversational English, including: pronunciation, ellipsis, use of "you" as a general pronoun, hesitation markers, subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement, verbs, modifiers, comparisons, euphemisms, idioms, slang, and phatic/ritualistic expressions. (Author/CB)

Reports findings of a study that investigated the relationship between boys' reading ability and their use of specialized linguistic features in oral story telling. Contains transcripts of stories told by some subjects in the study. (FL)

Explains the whole language teaching strategy. Shows what to expect in classrooms of whole language advocates. Describes curriculum guides based on the approach. (EL)

Describes a study which examines "introducer forms" used by English as a second language learners to initiate picture descriptions. Results suggest that students receiving formal second language instruction process the input data in ways which are more "acquisition-like" and often not consistent with what the teacher intends…

Includes six short articles (one written in French) which describe classroom activities to aid English as a second language learners in writing, reading, and speaking. The activities include use of the telephone, brainstorming, games, and videotaped material. Each is geared to a specific age and/or ability level. (SED)

Suggests that limited English speaking students' oral language can be developed by using pictures and concrete referents and then by using the language experience approach to teach English reading. (FL)

Concludes that the PDIL (the Spanish version of the Test of Early Language Development) should be used with caution. Since its reliability and validity were determined with the English language version, the method used to translate test items may have some ambiguities, and some illustrations on picture cards may not be culturally appropriate for…

Outlines three major bodies of theory that give rise to models of oral work, questions the implications each has for assessment, and considers the extent to which these theories have been born in mind by college examination boards. (HOD)

This inservice professional development module, part of the Alabama Reading Initiative, presents research summaries, notes for presenters, and activities. The Oral Language and Vocabulary module elaborates on a student's comprehension of text as it relates to the overlap between the student's system of language and the author's system of language.…