Reviews William Lutz's book "Doublespeak: From 'Revenue Enhancement' to 'Terminal Living'--How Government, Business, Advertisers, and Others Use Language to Deceive You." (KEH)

Stresses the importance of maintaining multilingualism in the United States in the face of arguments by "English Only" advocates that the U.S. risks being torn apart by multilingualism. Historical evidence from the Soviet Union and from Australia is cited to support the viability of successful management of multilingualism. (Author/DJD)

An Italian conference on the role of language instruction in Italian schools is summarized. Special attention is given to the potential for linking language teaching to secondary education reform efforts. (MSE)

A survey of student use of French outside the classroom during a six-week summer abroad program found the language skills and functions most commonly used were not those stressed in the language classroom, including comprehension skills and use of numbers. The survey is recommended for assessing student language needs. (MSE)

Warns the European community of the dangers of accepting English as the international language and urges the adoption of Esperanto, a neutral language without its own cultural tradition, as the international lingua franca. (CFM)

Uses economic analysis to study second language policies of French as an international language or as an official language of Canada. Policies to shift the demand and supply of languages are compared for their potential impact. Demand appears to be a more efficacious policy than supply. (Author/DJD)

In the third of a series on the logic of European languages, phonological, morphological, and syntactic idiosyncracies of German are discussed as they relate to the language's cultural context and philosophical heritage. (MSE)

Reviews "The Transition from Infancy to Language: Acquiring the Power of Expression" (L. Bloom). Underscores that Bloom's account of word learning represents an ethnographic, theoretic, and research approach that explores development by starting with the child, and looks at the many behaviors of the child and views these in relation to…

The Secondary Literacy Inservice Package for High School Science and Mathematics was developed to assist teachers of science and mathematics in helping their students become more literate in these two subject areas. This article examines the meaning of literacy and its relationship to language and learning, and describes the outcomes from trying…

Describes origins of Fiji Indians and their unique language, Fiji Hindi, and discusses this language as a marker of identity in modern dialects brought to Fiji by Indian indentured laborers. The mixed dialect, Fiji Hindi, developed from these original forms of speech, is highlighted, and the role of Hindi and English in the development of Fiji…

Models of ethnographic research in education treat context in an arbitrary way, and the theory of language used is inadequate. However, a discourse analysis framework can be useful in improving qualitative research in education by relating accounts of specific sites and events to their social contexts. (27 references) (MSE)

Literary "discourse theories," increasingly applied to history and society in recent years, are losing favor among conservative and liberal scholars as focusing too narrowly on the role of language. These poststructuralist theories hold that language and knowledge are slippery, that words and cultural texts rarely mean what they appear…

Underscores the importance of preserving the Navaho language. Discusses eight stages of linguistic strength and security. Recommends that parents speak Navaho to their children and that English be excluded from particular social interactions, such as social introductions, to create a linguistic bond among Navaho people and maintain cultural…

Investigates the double compound that is a feature of the regional French of the langue d'oc and franco-provencal areas. Analysis suggests that, in addition to the temporal and aspectual properties traditionally attributed to this form, the expressive properties of the surcompose regional are central to any description of its function in…

Details the various questions regarding the teaching of language and parts of language to high school students. Contends that teachers should aim at providing students with a view of the wholeness of language. Gives suggested criteria for classroom language activities. (HB)