Patterns of speech from lower socioeconomic status mothers to their infants were analyzed to determine correlations with infant risk of mental retardation. Measures of maternal language included sentence form, amount of speech, and syntactic complexity. The proportion of imperatives was positively correlated with risk status and negatively…

Compares language patterns in two moderately aphasic adults over age 60 with left hemisphere damage, using measures of lexical richness (word frequency). Argues for the usefulness of evaluating patients on conversational speech and the role of extensive linguistic analysis in prognosis and therapy. The discussion considers both qualitative and…

Focuses on how the foreign language instructors' understanding of the historical development of forms and systematic language patterns enhances classroom presentations by transforming lists of irregularities and exceptions into coherent groups of related elements. Discusses examples of structures traditionally presented in lists or tables and…

Reports four experiments examining subject-verb agreement errors in Spanish and English. Discusses cross-linguistic differences within the framework of the computational model of grammatical encoding proposed by Kempen and Hoenkamp. Suggests that languages differ in the extent to which the selection of the verb is controlled by features on the…

Describes why the Oakland School Board proposed to apply African Language Systems principles to move students closer to English proficiencies. The board's objective--to raise the language skills of African-American students--was interpreted as a proposal to teach substandard English and was used to validate racist dialog. The public furor ignored…

Reports on a study of the color terms used in Setswana. The study compared terms used by children with those of adults and those used by people from rural areas with those used by people from urban areas. Results show a move away from traditional Setswana color terms toward the use of borrowed English terms, particularly among the young and…

F. Schrag is preoccupied with enhancing education, but who decides what enhancement is? He has confused positivism with empiricism. Positivism is a specific philosophical movement that is associated with logical positivism. The empiricism that Schrag labels positivism preceded the philosophic traditions. (SLD)

A study examined the conversations of eight groups of high school students in a level three Spanish class during a jigsaw speaking task, and compared their language use patterns with those of intermediate-level learners of English as a Second Language. Results suggest both similarities and differences. Choice of language is also considered. (17…

Discusses whether the proficiency approach to teaching Arabic, which is now advocated, is really functional enough to suit true needs of students, and whether the debate concerning proficiency is becoming so polarized as to make impossible real discussion of the issues. Trends and changes that have occurred in the Arabic language over the decades…

Children with specific language impairments (eight learning Italian, eight learning English as a first language) were studied for grammatical deficits. Italian-speakers used noun inflections, verb inflections, copula forms more than English-speaking counterparts, matched by utterance length. Articles were used similarly. Results were consistent…

Analyzes the use of imperatives in five scholarly journal articles (main text and notes) in each of ten disciplines, and follow-up interviews with authors using imperatives within main text indicate specific patterns and purposes of usage and field-specific expectations and conventions. Discusses implications for instruction of non-native-speaking…

Drawing on native/non-native speaker discourse data from goal-oriented interaction in Australian workplaces, it is argued that modality is inherently a centrally important function in such discussions, and that appropriately nuanced expression of modality is often crucial to "getting the job done," and that emphasis should be given to…

Reviews research findings on second-language (L2) interaction from the perspective of syntactic development. The article argues that better understanding of the role of negotiated interaction in L2 syntactic development requires examining the specific grammatical structures in interaction guided by the criteria of relevance, availability,…

The author responds to criticism of an earlier article on pragmatism in the study and teaching of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Discussion focuses on the relevance of political and cultural issues in design of the EAP curriculum and the need for attention to the communicative demands, both conceptual and discourse-related, that students…

The educational system in a multilingual society needs to reflect the authentic patterns of language use by the individuals in that society. A person who knows three or more languages presumably uses each of these languages in different contexts, for different purposes and at varying levels of proficiency. The school curriculum should aim at…