Discusses the problems encountered in translating the term "solid-state" into French. Its various English uses are outlined, and a list of French equivalents are provided. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

An instrument called "Focus" has been developed to classify communications people send and receive and help them give similar accounts of the same events. This article teaches five characteristics of communications, provides a rationale and suggests applications. Used in teacher training, it can describe teaching acts and communication accurately.…

Language choices in Spanish bilingual kindergartens are discussed and pupil and teacher language compared. In Concurrent Translation classrooms, English was used over 70 percent of class time, especially for directing and correcting children. In Alternate Day classrooms, there was a more balanced use of Spanish and English. (CHK)

The use of "yige" in various situations in Chinese is discussed. "Yige" resembles English "a/an," but its primary function is to highlight the presence of a following noun phrase and the qualities it represents. This paper aims to illustrate how seemingly irregular sentences can further understanding of the language. (CHK)

Presents brief annotations of 30 children's trade books published in 1996 considered to be outstanding for their enhancement of language awareness among students in grades K-8. (SR)

Suggests that part of the problem with instruction in mechanics has to do with the intuitively unappealing nature of most of the "rules" that have remained unchanged for a century. Discusses problems with current rules on the use of the apostrophe. Presents a one-page reproducible handout that summarizes a technique to teach usage of the…

Shows that main idea statements were used by a variety of leading American writers of nonfiction in the nineteenth century; that usage patterns bridged gender and racial differences; and that even a difference of purpose or audience did not materially alter main idea patterns. Shows the importance of main idea recognition skills as tools for…

Examines issues raised by corpus linguistics concerning the description of language. The article argues that it is necessary to start from correct descriptions of linguistic units and the contexts in which they occur. Corpus linguistics has joined with language teaching by sharing a recognition of the importance of a larger, schematic view of…

Presents four short essays by teachers on foreign words and phrases, letting students critique textbooks, speeding grading by alphabetizing, and role playing using computers. (RS)

Two experiments showed two-year-olds pairs of videotaped actions, one familiar and one novel, and asked them to select referents of novel verbs. For actions not involving objects, children tended to select the novel action over the familiar one in each of four experiments. For actions involving objects, novel actions were chosen more often than…

Suggests ways for journalists to better their writing skills, for example, being aware of unnecessary words and redundancies and the fact that the simplest word is usually the best word. Tells reporters which words to avoid, such as "many,""some," and "a lot." Gives examples of some mistakes that journalists have…

Surveyed diverse students at an urban U.S. college to investigate their opinions of Ebonics. Three dimensions of Ebonics opinions, identified through factor analysis, suggested a typology of student orientations toward Ebonics, and multiple regression analysis identified variables that predicted these orientations. Findings showed that respondents…

Conducts a small-scale survey similar to one conducted by Maxine Hairston in 1979 to test whether nonacademic professionals' attitudes towards usage errors have changed in 20 years. Indicates a trend for respondents to find errors less bothersome than the respondents did 20 years ago. Supports the claim made by Hairston and other researchers that…

Argues that the study of contact varieties of a language are relevant to understanding of second language acquisition and use, because non-canonical contact languages are often situated on a continuum between pidginization and the more general processes of untutored second language acquisition. Data on participle regularization in Namibian Black…

Argues that in teaching students to write as critics, educators need to ask them to change not how they think but how they work--to take on a new sort of intellectual practice. Shows how helping students become more aware of choices they make in revising their texts can help them gain control of using the work of others and gain a reflectiveness…