This contribution investigates the frequency patterns of the modal verbs as they occur in the one-million-word corpus of Cameroon written English. An analysis of dominant senses of some of the modals is also attempted. I have used results and statistical figures from British and American English (as reported in studies such as Biber et al. 1999…

Papers on language research include: "L'expression de l'opposition en Latin" ("The Expression of Opposition in Latin" (Claude Begin); "Le francais de l'Abitibi: characteristiques phonetiques et origine socio-geographique des locuteurs" ("The French of Abitibi: Phonetic Characteristics and Socio-Geographic Origin…

Despite considerable linguistic diversity in Kenya, the country is increasingly trilingual, with individual Kenyans tending toward varying degrees of proficiency in the vernacular, Swahili, and English. The vernacular is acquired at home and in the neighborhood with co-ethnics in both rural and urban contexts. Swahili is typically learned…

The Peace Corps volunteer language training materials for the Moroccan language Tashelheet are designed for group, individual, or self-instruction. An introductory section gives the learner an overview of language characteristics, the materials, and their design. The main section of the materials is divided into two parts. The first contains 16…

This instructional guide for Sesotho (spoken in several areas of Africa by about 6 million people) is designed for the training of Peace Corps volunteers in Africa. The first two chapters outline Sesotho phonology (phonetics, articulation, and speech sounds and patterns not present in English) and tone and length, grammatical structure (class and…

This guide is designed for Luganda (Ganda) language training of Peace Corps workers in Uganda, and reflects daily communication needs in that context. It consists of an introduction on use of the materials and a series of topical instructional units addressing specific language competencies. Each unit includes the targeted competency and a…

This guide is designed for Zarma language training of Peace Corps workers in agriculture in Nigeria, and reflects daily communication needs in that context. An introductory section provides background information on the program's objectives and its role in the Nigerian village context. Some useful phrases are introduced here. Subsequent sections…