Describes a classroom activity that emphasizes syntactic fluency and the richness of linguistic resources available in written language, while downplaying the "dos and don'ts" of traditional punctuation instruction. (RL)

Explores how a speech variety close to oratorical standard English is learned in one Afro-American peasant community in the West Indies. Material gathered during two field trips, one supported by a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation fellowship and the other by a National Institute of Mental Health grant. (VM)

Language instruction in secondary education is dominated by standard language ideology--a view of language that sanctions one ("standard") variety at the expense of other ("nonstandard") ones. While it is clear that students need access to privileged rhetorical forms, it is similarly clear that most current pedagogies do not facilitate such access…

Mary M. Juzwik draws on a grounded study to propose a hybrid theory of classroom genres that builds on Bauman's conceptualization of the "dialogization of genres." This perspective foregrounds Bakhtin's earlier and more literary work, while backgrounding Bakhtin's later, more social scientific perspectives on genre. In particular, Juzwik…

Many classics in children's literature have metaphoric structures that enhance the structure of the plot. Metaphor is not an added frill to creative writing, nor is it the private province of poets. It is a necessary part of everyday language. One viewpoint on metaphor can be found in studies on child language acquisition. Children do use…

The article presents an audio-visual teaching method for advanced students of Italian, in which major emphasis is placed on phonostylistic and semiotic factors: intonation and stress, rhythm, and gestures. A sample exercise is included. (CLK)

An attempt is made to answer these questions: (1) whether writing practice has a place in foreign language instruction; and (2) if so, what kinds of writing pupils should learn. Suggestions are proposed as to content and procedure of a continuing course in writing skills for Dutch secondary schools. (AM)

Much of the work being done in composition concerns language--an increased awareness and desire to know what it is, how it works, and how people use it to create themselves and their world. The need to review and to teach the basics is obvious, but to present grammar, punctuation, and diction--the building blocks of language that must be…

The element of static abstractions (SAs)--any pseudoheuristic listing of derived nominals whose purpose is to define good structure in prose writing--is one of the important historical components of the current traditional rhetoric inherited from the nineteenth century. SAs, of which unity, coherence, and emphasis are the best known examples, have…

Since clauses are the largest functional components of a sentence, their analysis can increase attention to sentence structure and stylistic variation. Students can learn to distinguish main clause types by naming the verb forms used (transitive, intransitive, equational, and passive). Once students have mastered the recognition of main clauses,…

When students inductively study linguistic patterns and then apply their understanding to achieve sentence variety, their interest in composition is heightened and their writing styles improve. Through examples in music and in nonsense and model sentences, students became aware of their language's basic structural patterns (subject-verb word…

There are three areas of interest in the topic of sociolinguistics in the classroom. First, the study of sociolinguistics is the interest of the professional linguist; second, the application of sociolinguistic principles is or should be the concern of all professional people who care about what goes on in the classroom, especially the teacher;…

Concerned with college students' written composition and their understanding of English grammar, usage, and mechanics, this book is based on the beliefs that society is clearly class structured, that representatives of all classes attend various kinds of colleges, that society is responsible for each of these students, and that this obligation…

Discusses diverse examples of literary devices by comparing metaphor and humor. Defines and illustrates paronomasia, paradox, oxymoron, anacoluthon, zeugma, parody, jargon, satire, conceit, anachronism, hyperbole, cacography, understatement, and doggerel. A humorous appendix contrasts errors with rhetorical devices. (NKA)