The acceptability of a sentence is dependent on context: some sentences look awkward in isolation but improve in an appropriate context, whereas other sentences look all right in isolation but fail to fit certain types of context. Of particular interest is the degree and specificity of textual fit of different thematic (theme-rheme, topic-comment)…

A functional syllabus for post-intermediate study of English as a second language (ESL) that was developed for the provincial high schools in Papua New Guinea is described. The framework necessary to analyze student needs and define learning objectives is based on languages uses. A "language use" is a semantic unit identifying the…

The Spanish syntax of 36 English-Spanish bilingual students at the University of Texas at El Paso was examined to determine the variety and extent of English influence on Spanish syntax and to correlate the relative extent of this influence with selected extra-linguistic factors. The most significant finding was that the group of students having…

The language development processes of decreolization and second language acquisition are compared. The decreolization of Guyanese creole negation and the acquisition of the English negative by an adult Spanish speaker are described. Each process is seen as a series of internal changes on a continuum of developmental stages which bring speakers…

Language teaching typically reflects current research, and, until quite recently, grammatical competence (e.g., in the Chomskyan sense) was the major target of linguistic research. Emphasizing the spoken language, the term "fluency," as applied to the foreign language performance of a language learner, is correlated to foreign language…

Grammatical transfer is used to render the values and meanings of the structures in Romanian pronouns into English. This device can be used in explaining the exact nuances of Romanian pronouns to speakers of English. In translating from English to Romanian, a special problem is presented by the pronoun "you," which in Romanian can take…

Because of the language changes that have taken place in the People's Republic of China since 1949, Chinese can be seen as a language divided between the pre-1949 varieties and the post-1949 ones. What is taught in the United States does not reflect the current Chinese situation, partly because most of the native language teachers in the United…

This paper discusses contextualization in the TESL classroom. Starting from the statement that fluency and comprehension are more important than absolute accuracy, and that to know how to use language students must "experience context in situations," a definition is attempted of the terms "context,""situation," and "experience." Situation is…

The relationship between sociolinguistics and educational concerns is examined, the focus of the paper being to discover how current developments in sociolinguistics are contributing to the field of bilingual education. Following a brief discussion of related legislation, basic questions concerning bilingual program implementation are raised,…

This text contains 50 lessons in Dagbani for the student of Dagbani as a second language. The principal emphasis of the lessons is on developing skills in the spoken language, and study is preferable with a native speaker of Dagbani. The use of English is to be avoided except when absolutely necessary. Because of the attention given to oral…

Because of the high incidence of structural similarity between Jamaican Creole and Standard English, many of the important differences between the two languages can be obscured. This fact and that of negative attitudes towards Creole are the principal problems encountered in teaching Creole. The lessons in this course on Jamaican Creole are based…

Methodological and theoretical options confronting second-language textbook authors are outlined. Analytic and synthetic methodological approaches, linguistic options, geographic variability, registers of language, spoken versus written language, cultural materials, and learners' level are discussed. (SW)

Describes a nine-stage approach, involving a slide program and the language lab, that puts students in authentic situations and provides them with an alternative series of protocols, verbal strategies, and syntactic transactions. (Author/RM)

This article discusses the concept of "threshold level" as it applies to second language learning and proficiency. The threshold level is seen as the minimum level of proficiency required to communicate basic needs and to interact successfully. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

A language teacher urges the use of authentic listening materials that do not conform to the strictest standards of spoken usage, as a way of getting to know the language's norms and variations. (MSE)