This paper describes a method for determining whether the language variations of Spanish-English bilingual speakers are anomalous, idiosyncratic, or truly dialectical, and reports the testing of that method. Elements of the method include presenting sentences that have grammatical/syntactic language variations, having subjects perform operational…

Cultural and dialect differences affect the writing style of black college students in several different ways. Some stylistic features, such as hypercorrection that involves confused word choice, grammatical deviation, or incorrect word order, are undesirable in spite of the fact that they indicate a knowledge of the formality of writing and a…

This report reviews evidence that there are differences between oral and written English that lead to differences in the skills and knowledge necessary to comprehend them. Three categories of differences are considered in an attempt to derive specific, testable hypotheses: differences in the physical nature of speech and writing, differences in…

This study describes some aspects of the emergence of displaced reference (talking about topics other than those in the immediate context) in conversations between a child and her parents. The data consisted of tape recorded interaction with the child between 17 and 36 months. During this period, speech about the here and now always dominated, but…

Social cognition refers to that ability which makes it possible for one to infer another's covert, inner psychological experiences and to interact with that individual accordingly (Shantz 1975; Flavell 1977). Piaget (1926) maintains that the ability to decenter socially and to take into account the perspective of another develops gradually as the…

Two experiments were conducted in order to discover (a) the expressed attitudes of young adults about the intellectual abilities of seven target groups ranging in age from infant to elderly, and (b) if and in what manner young adults differentially explain the rules of a simple game to these same target groups. (Author)

Examines language and social stratification through content analysis. Linguistic forms, conditions and regulating functions are explored. (MH)

Describes the problems involved in teaching speech communication to Japanese businessmen. Basic cultural and linguistic differences are identified. (MH)

Discusses the semantic field of "expression" and the implications for the teaching of oral and written expression. (Text is in French.) (AM)

A Talk given at the Conference on the Role of Canadian Universities in the Teaching of English and French as Second Languages, Laval University, Quebec, Canada, August 24, 1967.

Ethnographic classroom research shows culturally different children follow non-congruent patterns in arguments with their peers. Protests by two first grade boys from different cultures are examined, and some ways in which their protesting styles differ are indicated. A Black American child pursues final protests using successively more aggravated…

To determine staging points reached in written narratives based on the personal experience of four secondary school students, researchers examined (1) the kinds of ordering or reordering that occur as the writer imaginatively recovers the events of the past; (2) whether the writer automatically assumes or takes for granted that a reader is already…

Two studies were conducted to test the view that the early reading difficulties experienced by boys result from a "difference" in the way they use language, not their "deficit" in language ability. The first study replicated previous findings that young boys outperform young girls in receptive language ability although they perform less well in…

The course materials provided in this booklet are intended to create an awareness of the pervasiveness of sexism in American culture as reflected in the language. Information on the topic; assignments for field work, analysis, and discussion; and topics for compositions are given in four sections, each based on a separate linguistic principle. The…