This document describes the Shanghai dialect of Chinese. An introduction to the paper provides information on previous research on the dialect. Items covered in the phonological description include syllable structure, initials, finals, tones, tone change, and differences in initials and finals in the colloquial and literary forms. The morphemes of…

This document describes the Wen-ch'ang and Ting-an dialects of Chinese. Items covered in the phonological description of Wen-ch'ang include syllable structure, initials, finals, tones, tone change, and differences in the initials and finals in colloquial and literary forms. Initials, finals, and tones in the Ting-an dialect are also discussed. The…

This document provides a description of the Teng-xian dialect of Chinese. In the introduction, the author discusses the geographical location of the dialect and its relationship to other Chinese dialects; a map is provided. Items covered in the phonological description include syllable structure, initials, finals, tones, tone sandhi, combinations…

Concerned with college students' written composition and their understanding of English grammar, usage, and mechanics, this book is based on the beliefs that society is clearly class structured, that representatives of all classes attend various kinds of colleges, that society is responsible for each of these students, and that this obligation…

Examines the personality attributions made of a second speaker when (1) he reciprocated or failed to reciprocate the intimacy level of a disclosure made by an initial speaker and when (2) he matched or failed to match the initial speaker's level of language intensity. (Authors)

Describes an investigation of the nature of English dialect acquisition among bilingual Puerto Ricans. Subjects were in the sixth grade of a school in the Puerto Rican community in North Philadelphia. Results show that subjects can socially classify linguistic variants from two competing systems and use them appropriately. (Author/RM)

Points out that the realistic concern for and knowledge of rural students in their own particular contexts help to motivate students in a composition classroom. (MB)

Examination of the productive narrative competence of three five-year-olds revealed that the children routinely and regularly produced a striking variety of 14 narrative forms. Seventy percent of the narratives took anecdotal form, and original fantasy narratives occurred only rarely. (Author/CB)

Recalls the atmosphere of teaching college in the 1960s. (SRT)

Presents examples of misunderstandings in compliment exchanges in different cultural contexts and analyzes them as instances of pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic failure. Analysis of complimenting behavior norms forms the basis of a set of exercises designed to assist learners in developing the ability to recognize and use compliments…

Discusses the manifestation of sexism in language and makes practical suggestions for overcoming these problems in second-language instruction. Topics covered include forms of address; occupational titles; exclusion of gender; sexual stereotyping; sex differences in language use; politeness; verbosity; and classroom interaction. (CB)

Discusses diverse examples of literary devices by comparing metaphor and humor. Defines and illustrates paronomasia, paradox, oxymoron, anacoluthon, zeugma, parody, jargon, satire, conceit, anachronism, hyperbole, cacography, understatement, and doggerel. A humorous appendix contrasts errors with rhetorical devices. (NKA)

A review of research concerning bilingual (English and Spanish) Chicanos' use of code-switching during spontaneous oral narrative indicates that such code-switching may be organized to achieve more dramatic effects through personalizing (as opposed to objectionalizing) certain parts of the narrative and through techniques of foregrounding and…

Investigation of the linguistic features lost in oral French over a vacation period by English-speaking ninth graders (N=89) revealed significant reductions in total time, speaking time, number of pauses, quantity of production, and grammatical accuracy on tasks requiring production of discourse, suggesting a general deterioration in language…

Considers how foreign language students can be trained to apply focalization to get beyond the mere content-oriented teaching of literature and work toward understanding what authors do in their texts and appreciate how they do it. (CB)