Papers on the role of language in the work environment include: "Institutions, Writing and Talk in Environmental Discourse" (Greg Myers); "Negotiating Training: Shifting Participant Frameworks in the Workplace" (Kristina Bennert); "Relational Management in Chinese-British Business Meetings" (Helen Spencer-Oatey,…

This booklet summarizes some of the best practices in helping infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers maximize their language skills prior to school entry. Children who are well prepared by their parents, caretakers or pre-school teachers can readily manage the transition to the academic demands of the early school years and are more likely to learn…

Classroom techniques (collaboration, mentoring, emphasis on problem-solving) used in supplemental instruction (SI) for chemistry at Saint Xavier University (Illinois) are detailed, the role of SI leader and supervisor are examined, and a small-scale (n=219 students) study of student perceptions of the program is reported. (MSE)

Presents several lesson plans using newspapers to develop critical thinking skills that the author has used in critical thinking, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL), and English composition classes. Examines news writing, the inverted pyramid, organization and language usage, letters to the editor, and how to critically analyze survey results. (CH)

Susanna, a young girl from a low-income Chinese immigrant family, develops her oral language proficiency quickly in Head Start and kindergarten; however, she needs more support in her reading and writing. This case study examines an unusual journey of Susanna's learning to read and write in English. Observations in her home indicate a home with…

"Brown v. Board of Education" reminds this author, a linguist, of the linguistic diversity among black Americans, be they descendants of enslaved Africans--as he is proud to be--or Africans who escaped slavery. There is as much linguistic diversity among their race as among any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. When the…

The Association Method is an instructional strategy currently being used with children with hearing loss, children with speech and language disorders, and children with reading disabilities. It is a systematic, incremental, phonetically based, multi-sensory approach designed to increase the understanding and use of spoken language; improve…

The present study examines the possible effects of bilinguality on third language learning among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners with a focus on reading comprehension proficiency achievement. This study is a longitudinal survey of EFL learners in Urmia University in Azerbaijan, Iran, during 2002-2004. It compared 56 Turkish-Persian…

The achievement gap, traditionally measured by test scores, also can be documented by dropout behavior. Examining dropout behavior among Black, White, and Hispanic students, with a particular focus on gaps within groups and not just between Whites and minorities, shows a clearer picture of the achievement gap. The results of our study show…

In a practicum study, 21 students in a speech and debate class were encouraged to discuss openly the roles of Black English (BE) and Standard English (SE), use both freely in the classroom, and engage in speaking situations in the classroom and forensic tournaments to develop confidence and proficiency in their speaking abilities. The objective…

College teachers of English for Science and Technology (EST) are encouraged to conduct research in preparation for designing appropriate writing instruction. Specific recommendations are made for creating such a program, providing adequate support, and organizing its content, with examples offered from the program in computer science writing at…

A study examined the acquisition order of English article functions, and attempts to explain the results in terms of transfer and language universals. Subjects were French, German, Japanese, and Korean students, aged 10-15 years, studying English as a second language in schools in Seoul, Korea. All were administered a test consisting of 18…

This grammar of Pashto was designed to accompany a set of beginning- and intermediate-level instructional materials for teaching the Pashto language to English speakers, but can be used separately as a reference by readers who are not learning the language. Introductory sections in English and Pashto describe the content and organization. The…

This thesis focuses on the transferability of grammatical competence to grammatically correct performance in the future tense in 10th grade German students who were learning English as a Second Language. The goal was to suggest an empirical contribution to the issue of whether implicit or explicit knowledge of grammatical rules or grammatical…

A study was conducted at an American university to collect data on how native English-speaking students asked questions in class. The data were analyzed for use of syntactic forms, formulaic expressions or prefatory comments, terms of address, functions fulfilled by the questions, and politeness markers. The results were then compared with the…