Spelling, a basic component of information technology, has been investigated for its efficiency as a means of communication, with some researchers claiming that English spelling is close to ideal for really literate people to read fast and efficiently. Evidence about human abilities to obtain meaning from the printed word has come from studies of…

To explain some of the problems and questions concerning the study of communicative competence, this paper discusses observations that motivate activity in the area and several issues generated by the observations, and suggests implications of the issues raised. The observations discussed first are that humans manage to get things done…

A study investigated differential processing of adjectival and verbal passives in English, and the implications for linguistic theory. The subjects, 30 native-English-speaking college students, were presented with word triples in which one member was an adjective, one an adjectival passive, and one a verbal passive, and with three two-sentence…

The fourth part of a bibliography on intercultural communication is, like the first three parts, intended primarily for Japanese teachers of English as a second language but is also useful for anyone interested in intercultural communication. The bibliography contains 480 citations of books, journal articles, and other sources for information…

Four papers on contrastive linguistics include: (1) "The Search for an Ideal Theoretical Model in Applied Contrastive Linguistics: A Wild Goose Chase" (Herman Wekker, Flor Aarts), which argues that contrastive linguists should feel free to adopt an eclectic approach to theory since no single linguistic model can be adopted in its entirety and…

The Centre for Applied Language Studies (CALS) at Ottawa's Carleton University was established in 1982 as a multifunctional unit for applied linguistics research to include six functions: research and development, consulting, the development of learning options, providing a writing tutorial service, teacher training, and teacher support. Its…

A review of the literature on the development of children's abilities to comprehend and produce metaphorical language shows this development to be a continuous process rather than one characterized by stages, and to be constrained primarily by limitations in children's knowledge and information processing abilities. More specifically, the…

Noting that issues surrounding grammar instruction are a source of controversy within the English language arts curriculum, this concept paper examines the usefulness of formal instruction in naming parts of speech, diagramming sentences, naming types of phrases and clauses, and naming sentence types. Following an introduction that defines…

A review of research was conducted on the possibility of a sensitive period for the acquisition of native-like pronunciation in a second language, as well as on related questions concerning the universality of this phenomenon, age factors, biological versus cultural origins, and developmental psychology. The review showed variation in studies and…

One of a regular series on the status and progress of research into the nature of speech, instrumentation for its investigation, and practical applications, this report consists of 17 papers dealing with the following topics: (1) vagueness and fictions as cornerstones of a theory of perceiving and acting--a commentary on D.O. Walter; (2) the…

The 14 articles in this journal issue provide suggestions for making language study interesting. Specific topics discussed in the articles include (1) metaphors, (2) expressing feelings, (3) grammar for speakers of nonstandard English dialects, (4) medical jargon, (5) grammar in the writing process, (6) the rhetoric of teacher comments, (7) slang,…

A verbal skills curriculum program, designed for use with United States Navy recruits with deficiencies in English language listening and speaking skills was field tested at a recruit training station in Florida. The curriculum was self-paced and was composed of three learning modules: Navy-related vocabulary, grammatical structures, and language…

Two case studies of language use in bilingual classrooms are presented. The first case study focuses on the functions of the teacher's speech in a twelfth grade civics class. One 50-minute lesson was recorded and transcribed. The two classroom languages, English and Spanish, were coded according to their use for information, elicitation,…

Child acquisition of Mandarin was studied with four middle class families from Taipei, Taiwan. The 2-year-olds were taped at home playing with their families. Two of the children were taped for short periods (7 hours and 9 hours), while the other two children were studied biweekly for 14 months, which resulted in 71 hours of transcribed child…

The study reported in this monograph represents two years of data collection designed to explore the social meaning of language in naturalistic classroom settings. The first part of the book presents the framework within which the study was carried out. The first chapter explicates the framework provided by prior research on classroom language,…