Author described efforts to modernize a system of writing, extremely difficult to teach and to learn, and assessed the benefits of changing from traditional characters to a Latin alphabet including the cost that would be involved: the separation of modern Chinese writing from the heritage of the past. (Editor/RK)

A test of the linguistic attitudes of teachers toward Black, Anglo, and Mexican-American children. (CH)

Concludes that the tendency to produce speech interruptions at the beginning of utterances, or pronouns, and conjunctions appears to be a characteristic of young children's speech. (RB)

The normalization of French and the selection of German as a second language over the traditional Alsatian is discussed. The teaching of the dialect has more often than not been promoted as an argument against German, and not as a serious proposition. The author encourages some bilingual education. (Text is in French.) (MSE)

An examination of recent cases involving press releases and public relations writers indicates that courts have devised several ways, including the use of guidelines set out by the Ollman (from "Ollman v. Evans") four-factor test, to make the distinction between fact and opinion. The four-factor test helps courts to assess (1) whether…

The situation in which an individual refers not to himself but to his role (e.g., a dean says, "It is the responsibility of the Dean..." instead of "It is my responsibility...") is considered. It is argued that in some circumstances, when a speaker uses certain kinds of definite descriptions to refer to himself, he may be…

The Cree and Cherokee syllabary systems were designed by gifted amateurs, such as Sequoyah, who received no funding or significant institutional support. Although he had influential kinsmen in his matrilineage, his project encountered active, widespread opposition from his contemporaries prior to its validation in 1821. Sequoyah found it necessary…

The typical pattern of Chinese word formation is to have native material adapt to changed circumstances. The Chinese language neither borrows nor lends words, but it does occasionally borrow concepts. The larger cultural pattern in which this occurs is that the Chinese culture borrows, if necessary, but ensures that the act of borrowing does not…

A comparison of grammatical, lexical, and phonological differences between Spanish and Portuguese that resulted from a study of the two languages' mutual intelligibility is presented as a convenient list of items that assumes a basic language knowledge in the user. The information is presented in five sections: (1) phonological contrasts (phonemic…

A study of the nature and function of British Sign Language (BSL) as used in the British deaf community is described. The study examined two hypotheses: (1) that the notion of diglossia applies to the British deaf signing community, and (2) that the low variety of BSL will exploit the visual medium in its grammar to a greater extent than the high…

A discussion of pragmatic choice in the use of the possessive pronoun or indefinite article (e.g., "I broke my finger" versus "I broke a finger," and "My leg hurts" versus "A leg hurts") looks at the constructions in the light of a theory of division of pragmatic labor that suggests a binary system of…

The influence of maternal use of verbs upon a child's developing rule system for verb usage was examined. Previously reported data (Brown, 1983) on mother-to-child speech were analyzed. Thirteen different contexts for verb use were identified. There was a close resemblance between the way the child and his mother distributed their uses of verbs.…

Students' use of French in unsupervised classroom situations and outside the classroom was investigated in immersion center schools (all students are involved in French immersion programs) and dual track schools (French immersion programs co-exist with regular English language programs). A total of 414 students in grades 3 and 4 were observed…

Intended for teachers, this article offers a definition of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), discusses its relevance to instruction, and provides illustrations of the implementation of neuro-linguistic programming in instructional contexts. NLP is defined as an approach to instruction that recognizes the familiar visual, auditory, and…

Discussed the crucial meanings and usage of American language. (RK)