Analyzes the logical and stylistic flaws in George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s "Politics and the American Language," suggesting a new approach to the study of public language. (DD)

Discusses some principles to keep in mind in facilitating learners' literacy development: recognize linguistic variety; facilitate authentic discourse; contextualize instruction on language structures within composing and comprehending; and design literature-based lessons with linguistic benefits in mind. Argues that, for acquiring English…

Analyzed construction of approximative expressions with two numerals in Dutch. Found that choice of number words was not arbitrary and that various kinds of factors are involved. Results suggest that analogue magnitude code is used in estimating and comparing, and human cognition seems to be able to perform simple calculations with quantities,…

Presents and discusses three sets of texts that are excerpted from essays written for a second-semester, first-year composition course at a regional public university. Considers the relationship of the linguistic and sociolinguistic markedness of texts. Explores what the sociolinguistic markedness should be in the writing classroom given the…

Analysis of 606 poems elicited from 78 two- through six-year-olds found that 60 percent contained phonological devices, 42 percent contained rhyme, and 26 percent contained alliteration. There were no significant age-related trends regarding use of rhyme or manipulation of phonemes for rhyme or alliteration, although alliteration usage declined…

A case study of IBM VM users is discussed in terms of those aspects of the context of a situation that affect both user choice of mode/medium and mode/medium switching. Results indicate that the medium of communication is itself a linguistic choice. (Author/DJD)

Analysis of headlines reporting the outcomes of professional and college football games revealed language use patterns involving transitive and intransitive verbs, phrase structure, alliteration and puns, and action verbs. It is suggested that continued use of a verb for winning or losing may lead to a change in its meaning. (Author/CB)

An examination of different types of hesitation in the speech of learners of French as a foreign language reveals several times as much hesitation as native speakers experience, with slowed speech apparent in the speech of foreign language learners. (MSE)

Argues that the structure of language reflects and reproduces the dominant model, and reinforces many of the dualistic assumptions which underlie the separation of male and female, nature and culture, mind from body, emotion from reason, and intuition from fact. (LZ)

Examines the language games found in the 18th century Chinese novel "Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan." Examination focuses on distinctly Chinese literary conventions and devices that have no equivalent in English, such as "xiehouyu" and "qiaopihua," as well as puns, character splitting, enigmatic expressions, and reification of…

Discusses an experiment to find the effects of "powerful" and "powerless" language on small computer-mediated groups. Explains that subjects were asked to communicate via computer in a decision-making context. Describes the three conditions. Finds that language style has significant impact on impression formation in computer…

This article discusses professional language and communication in real-life settings and provides a critical overview of research on language for specific purposes. Ideas for renewing this field of study are presented. (78 references) (MDM)

This article examines differences in conversational style between British English and Ecuadorian Spanish, which can be the source of communication conflict among speakers of these two languages in telephone conversations, and presumably other types of interaction. (30 references) (JL)

Presents an adaptation of a speech given by broadcaster and writer Robert MacNeil at the 1994 International Reading Association Convention. Discusses attitudes towards language, reading and learning to read, and pleasure. (SR)

A study of 240 TV viewers who watched or listened to and watched news stories showed highly significant differences in their recorded perceptions of the information. The spoken narrative was responsible for the perception of violence in the stories. Discussion of the results also touches on the subject of verbal violence. (14 references) (CP)