The proverbial language of Spanish provides a resource for teaching and testing various aspects of phonetics, syntax, vocabulary, and cultural features of the language. Incorporation of these features into the Spanish curriculum can enrich the classroom experience. Specific suggestions for their use are provided. (Author/MSE)

Considers why basic writers write in "phrases patched upon phrases." Examines how language is patterned and acquired to clarify a framework for teaching basic writers. States that speaking and writing, two different ways of organizing and presenting information, have different structures. Explores what cognitive psychology can say about…

Demonstrates how a technique involving contrastive rhetoric can help writing teachers and their students uncover and improve the overall rhetorical patterns in student writing. In addition, the use of a matrix that locates rhetorical patterns not followed in typical English patterns is described. (11 references) (GLR)

Describes a remediation program designed to promote students' self-confidence, in addition to promoting fluent reading and enhancing comprehension. Notes that the program uses real books with meaningful language patterns, presented so that each student experiences success. (MM)

Argues that formal English is a prestige dialect containing select constructions so unnatural as to be outside the domain of normal language acquisition. Among these are nominative pronouns used as conjoined subjects. Prestige usage is unavailable for consistent use. While formal education may have some effect on normal usage, that effect is…

Offers a group approach method to learning new structures in German. Students practice one pattern by constructing sentences in a simple, mildly competitive board game that can easily be put together by the teacher. (GLR)

This paper discusses the possibility of using newspaper genres and genre-based pedagogy to teach intermediate ESL learners to write school genres. Students' typical writing problems reveal the inadequacy of the typical composition classroom instruction. Then two texts regarded as typical representations of the editorial and the school…

Using a framework based on conversation analysis (Auer, 1984, 1995, 1998), this article presents an analysis of learner code-switching between L1 and L2 in an advanced foreign language (FL) classroom. It was found that students code-switch not only as a fallback method when their knowledge of the L2 fails them, or for other participant-related…

Literary artists manipulate language. If educators could develop in their students the same sense that language is manipulable, they could help them to better appreciate literature. Emily Dickinson's poem "I Like to See It Lap the Miles" could be approached by changing it on several levels--graphics, phonics, syntax, and semantics--and…

This paper describes two studies to determine the effectiveness of a technique for teaching graphemic bases in linguistic patterns and for teaching the combining of these graphemic bases with beginning sounds. Designed to complement the Hawaii English Program, the teaching procedure used both group instruction and peer interaction-it was brief,…

An effective approach to minimizing the difficulties ESL learners have with the English verb phrase is to associate a clear function with each form. Three main contexts for teaching and lines of development are discussed. (Author/ND)

Research on error analysis indicates that the learner develops an ordered system of language which is frequently erroneous, but which represents a transitional stage in his progress towards mastery. A brief analysis of some textbooks provides information about the selection and presentation of material to the learner. (SW)

Part of the proceedings of a Symposium on the Teaching of French Civilization held in Santiago, Chile, on July 16-28, 1970. (DS)