In Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, foreign language tests have been used rarely in schools, because more traditional oral and written examinations are preferred. However, recent changes in socialist pedagogical theory support a trend toward increasing efficiency in the instructional process, increased use of diagnostics, development of more…

Looks at policies of linguistic expansion worldwide, particularly English in the colonial and post-colonial periods. Considers whether English expansion in continental Europe represents a threat or blessing. Considers ambiguities in English being promoted as a language serving international purposes and simultaneously British and American…

Supports the theory of language policy formulation in a "conflict" paradigm (involving value, resources, and power) with a case example of the development of Ontario's Native language policy. Research and theory were applied to policy formulation when there was significant consensus regarding both societal and educational goals. (CB)

Discussion of the possibilities that information technology and mass media offer to learning environments focuses on small linguistic societies, especially Iceland. The role of schools is examined, characteristics of information technology in schools are described, teaching the mother tongue is discussed, and future possibilities are suggested.…

Argues that linguist John Swales has consistently worked to maintain English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as a distinct field of study in which practice is firmly founded in theory. Swales has developed the concept of "genre" in ESP into a fully articulated theory, allowing analysis of language that is contextually situated in terms of…

Describes development of the Rochdale Assessment of Mirpuri Phonology, a phonological assessment for bilingual children that was administered to normally developing bilingual children as well as children suspected of having a speech disorder. Normally developing children showed phonological error patterns in English that are considered atypical of…

Reports on the training experiences of workers from linguistically diverse backgrounds via a focus on their learning activities in community college apprenticeship programs. A survey identified areas of linguistic difficulty that students were experiencing in their coursework and ways in which instructors could reduce these barriers to success.…

Research in multilingual societies often attends to the micro level of linguistic interactions, as linguistic minority speakers negotiate their way through a majority-language world. However, this research does not always engage with the social, political and historical contexts that produce and reproduce the conditions within which some…

With computer corpora firmly established as research tools in linguistics, their application for language teaching purposes is also increasingly advocated to the extent that corpus-based language teaching has even been praised as the new revolution in language teaching (cf. Sinclair, 2004b). This article takes a more critical view and examines…

A project to identify alternative strategies for assessing the academic language of English language learners is reported. First, literature on the concept of academic language is reviewed, and then findings from classroom research are used to propose an alternative conceptualization of academic language, one which focuses on the role of stylistic…

The roles that pragmatics can play in the development of communicative competence are discussed, and three uses are examined in greater detail, with examples offered: (1) for the refinement of the study of speech acts as they occur in different cultures; (2) to help determine the extent to which explicit instruction can increase the rate at which…

This document is the first of 17 volumes on indigenous Mexican languages and is the result of a project undertaken by the Archivo de Lenguas Indigenas de Mexico. This volume contains information on Zapotec, an indigenous language of Mexico spoken in the Isthmus region of Juchitan, Oaxaca. The objective of collecting such a representative sampling…

This document is one of 17 volumes on indigenous Mexican languages and is the result of a project undertaken by the Archivo de Lenguas Indigenas de Mexico. This volume contains information on Trique, an indigenous language of Mexico spoken in San Juan Copala, in the state of Oaxaca. The objective of collecting such a representative sampling of the…

This document is one of 17 volumes on indigenous Mexican languages and is the result of a project undertaken Archivo de Lenguas Indigenas de Mexico. This volume contains information on Mixtec, an indigenous language of Mexico spoken in Santa Maria Penoles in the state of Oaxaca. The objective of collecting such a representative sampling of the…

This document is one of 17 volumes on indigenous Mexican languages and is the result of a project undertaken by the Archivo de Lenguas Indigenas de Mexico. This volume contains information on Chocho, an indigenous language of Mexico spoken in Santa Catarina Ocotlan, in the state of Oaxaca. The objective of collecting such a representative sampling…