A study examined the adjustments made in an individual's speech according to the age and native language of the person being addressed, and compared the results to previous findings on characteristics of "foreigner talk" and "mother talk". An adult native English-speaker addressed four people in turn--an adult native English-speaker, an adult…

A discussion of the worldwide problem of how to approach second language instruction examines insights gained from research and theory and recommends adoption of a pragmatic approach. Five principles underlying language instruction must be considered in this pragmatic approach. First, the most essential function of language is its…

A study investigated whether exposure to contrastive rhetoric would deepen international students' awareness of first- and second-language conventions characterizing their own and other students' writing. Participants included 46 University of Arizona students who represented a variety of language backgrounds and were enrolled in four sections of…

It is proposed that linguistic oral content, or metalinguistics, be included in the curriculum of primary school francophone children. This content is not included in the functionally oriented official curriculum. The linguistic content proposed consists of a number of formal variants corresponding to non-formal stylistic markers and respecting…

A study examined the linearity of discourse in letters to the editor written in English by native Japanese speakers and native English speakers. The objective was to examine the linear and non-linear patterns of Japanese and English speakers' letters, respectively. It is concluded that cultures are not limited to one rhetorical pattern, and linear…

Part of a larger study of Puerto Ricans' language attitudes, an investigation of the attitudes of 104 high school teachers and students in Puerto Rico focused on whether the subjects dissented within or among groups on the published cliches or statements that stereotype Puerto Rican Spanish (PRS) as inferior. All but two subjects placed themselves…

Based upon a review of handbooks and manuals from 212 two-year colleges in 39 states, this paper examines directions currently evident in the purpose, content, style and format of these publications and offers recommendations for their improvement. After looking at the characteristics of junior/community college faculty handbooks in the 1960s, the…

A stylistics-based approach to teaching poetry in the English as a foreign language classroom is examined. Since students may not have the linguistic skills to appreciate a poem, an analytical framework is proposed that includes the elements of repetition, confusion, and surprise. Reference is made to two poems, "In a Season of Unemployment"…

Seven people who both write and read various kinds of reports in their professions were asked to read and respond to identical sets of student reports over a four-month period in order to determine whether they responded to personae. Attached to each unevaluated and unidentified student report was a form with 15 different response areas that…

A study of cross examination speeches of males and females was conducted to determine gender differences in intercollegiate debate. The theory base for gender differences in speech is closely tied to the analysis of dyadic conversation. It is based on the belief that women are less forceful and dominant in cross examination, and will exhibit…

A study was undertaken to investigate the variation in the speech of child second language learners as a function of the different discourse constraints imposed by three participant structures: narrator-audience, child-adult conversation, and child-child conversation. The subjects were 18 children aged 7 to 12, temporary residents in the United…

This study examined the degree to which readers' affective responses to levels of language usage reflect their attitudes toward language usage. The subjects, 51 college juniors and seniors, read nine simulated newspaper interviews and completed five semantic differential scales that indicated their impressions of the interviewee's personality and…

The eight articles in this journal issue deal with the classroom study of language. They address such topics as dealing with student dialects and teaching about dialects; creating environments in which "languaging" can take place; using stylistic analysis to explain a literary text; teaching high school students to write research papers on aspects…

This paper proposes a study of the writing performance of superior twelfth graders and college English majors in three types of discourse: expressive, explanatory, and persuasive. The primary purpose of the study is descriptive, though the results of the descriptive analysis will permit a comparison of twelfth graders' writing with college…

A study was conducted to examine children's ability to deal with a particular form of figurative language, the simile, and the changes occurring in this ability as a result of regular, planned exposure to the form. Before and after an eight-week reading tutorial program, 17 children in the experimental group and 10 children in the control group…