Discusses changes that have occurred with regard to issues of language acquisition in Kenya in the last several decades, and the challenges these changes pose for educators and linguists today. Evaluates discrepancies that exist between theoretical norms and actual language behavior, especially as they affect the English language. Solutions to…

Reports results of an extensive needs-analysis for English-as-a-Second-Language-speaking graduate nursing students. The analysis focuses on skills required for school, clinical practice, and interaction with a multicultural, socially stratified patient population. (Author/VWL)

In the area of language teaching, a large number of learner corpora investigations have tended to rely on empirical data to identify common types of errors which illustrate inauthentic usages in a target language. One consequence of this kind of investigations is that such studies rarely, if ever, consider the inextricable link between language…

This paper synthesizes research on the acquisition of linguistic variation by learners of French as a second language--an overview that, to our knowledge, is the first of its kind. It also presents a case study on French immersion students' acquisition of the pronouns "nous" and "on" "we," an alternation in many varieties of spoken French. The…

This article uncovers some problems involved in culling and translating non-western texts--written in other languages, at particular times, for specific audiences, and rooted in particular local milieus--before assembling them into academic arguments in English in the west. Based on my longterm, evolving endeavour regarding English- and…

English as spoken as a second language in India has developed distinct sound patterns in terms of both segmental and prosodic characteristics. We investigate the differences between two groups varying in native language (Gujarati, Tamil) to evaluate to what extent Indian English (IE) accents are based on a single target phonological-phonetic…

This study investigated syllable duration as a measure of speech rhythm in the English spoken by Hong Kong Cantonese speakers. A computer dataset of Hong Kong English speech data amounting to 4,404 syllables was used. Measurements of syllable duration were taken, investigated statistically, and then compared with measurements of 1,847 syllables…

A framework is presented for grammar instruction based on sociocultural theory and critical pedagogy. It is argued that restricting students' learning to the standard German of the monolingual, educated native speaker is both insufficient and inappropriate. It is proposed that grammar teaching and learning should support learners as developing…

The definition of and distinction between two variations of American English, African American English Vernacular (AAEV) and Gullah, the American creole spoken on the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, are discussed. It is argued that while these and other varieties are defined typically by their basilects, the reality encountered in the field…

This issue of the journal includes these papers on contrastive linguistics: "The Impersonal Sentence in Russian and Romanian" (Suzanne Whalen); "Differential Identity Between Languages--A Study of Assertion and Interrogation in French and English" (William A. Bennett); "The Use of the Article in English and Hungarian: A Contrastive Analysis" (Eva…

These proceedings of the Georgetown Round Table cover the international dimensions of bilingual education. The proceedings are divided as follows: (1) "Aspects of Bilingual Education," which includes discussions of models, bilingual communities, and positive bilingualism; (2) "Parameters of Bilingual Education Policy," which includes discussion of…

To assist language researchers in their analysis of interlanguage, some values for the linguistic variables of Source Language (SL), Interlanguage (IL), and Target Language (TL) are set forth. Although the fundamental assumption underlying interlanguage research is that interlanguages are linguistic systems, it is difficult to describe the…

A resource kit for the teaching of listening comprehension in French at the intermediate secondary level is represented by a teacher's guide. The module is designed to develop language awareness through the presentation and discussion of basic language concepts and contrastive language study. Language variation and cognates are among the topics…

A resource kit for teaching French in a French-Canadian cultural context is represented by a teacher's guide, a student resource booklet, and a tape transcript. This module is designed for use at the intermediate or advanced level of secondary instruction. Classroom activities are based on a cassette tape that introduces some of the phonological…

It is not sufficient for students in foreign language classes to simply internalize the sound system and grammatical structure of the target language or to memorize the vocabulary. Speaking is not merely a linguistic event, but rather involves an extensive system of norms for the social interaction. The relationship between speaking and social…