Address presented at the Fourth Meeting of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), November 28, 1970, in Los Angeles, California. (DS)

Charges that language journal editors, intent on uniformity, are arbitrarily legislating language and style, glorifying pedantry, and over-editing copy. Objects to low-esteem given to book reviews. Recommends, instead, informative abstracts to describe current literature. (DS)

Interviews with an angry client made by counselors judged to be high or low empathic responders were compared on the stylistic complexity and the inherent semantic relations of their language. Significant differences were not found between counselors on information block length and use of state verb phrases. (Author)

Discusses the "Plain English" movement in relation to legal and bureaucratic documents and, especially, courtroom proceedings. Points out ways that language can be manipulated in order to enhance the powerlessness of participants in court litigation. (GC)

Presents an analysis of the effects of different styles of teacher talk on the degrees of initiative and talkativeness shown by preschool children involved in conversation with teachers. Investigates the relationships between changes in teaching style and the level of cognitive sophistication shown by children in dialog. (Author)

Discusses the use of "Le Petit Nicholas" as an intermediate French reading text. Provides ideas for exercises and teaching techniques that can be used with the book. (EKN)

Discusses the need for language departments to be adaptable or continue to face dwindling enrollments. Stresses the importance of teaching language as an important communication tool. (EKN)

Discusses the meaning and origins of the word "argot," its cryptic character, and its function in a closed social group, focusing on a comparative description of the French and Anglo-American vocabulary of the underworld and the police. Comments on shared traits and provides an insight into the differences. (MES)

The abilities to research completely and write clearly are essential to both the court and the legal practitioner, and they must be emphasized in the law school curriculum. The written brief is particularly important. Law review experience can be particularly helpful in gaining experience, skills, and perspective. (MSE)

Analyzes the uses of the negation "ne" in a variety of contexts ranging from literary to standard spoken usage. Focuses especially on the semantic implications of certain uses of the negation in order to illustrate the notion of "visee" (aim) or underlying global meaning. (MES)

Tests the hypothesis that Latinate words are preferred to Anglo-Saxon words in formal instructions or tasks that vary in formality. Three experiments were done, each implementing varying degrees of formality. Situations that call out Latinate words must be unequivocally formal. (Author/PJM)

Examines the problem of attempting to simplify official texts, with examples from the Netherlands' government. (AM)

Ten teachers comment on the Ann Arbor (Michigan) court case concerning language bias in the schools. (RL)

Major controversies which have arisen from linguists' research into Black English and implications of this research for education of dialect-speaking students are discussed. (JD)

The mental activities of reading and responding to literature and the difficulties that occur as students try to produce written accounts of what they have gained are explored, as are the demands made on the student's language when putting into words what s/he has gained through a study of literature. (Author/KC)