A series of investigations studied dimensions of individual differences in elementary and secondary school students in ability and "style" in speaking, writing, and other verbal performances; the relations of these dimensions to measured personality characteristics; early childhood and home background factors in these variables; and the relative…

This paper argues that context is an important factor to be considered in linguistic analysis. Context is defined as the aggregate of linguistic, situational, social and cultural variables that surround linguistic units such as texts, discourses, utterances, words, morphemes, phonemes, sounds, and distinctive features. A "textual…

Teacher talk can be characterized as a "caregiving" style which has certain identifiable phonological, lexical, and grammatical features. Analysis of classroom discourse can make teachers and students of language aware of the process of communication, and can identify particular uses of nonverbal as well as verbal communication. This, in…

This study was designed to assess the teacher verbal role behavior of Guided Discovery/Inquiry before and after an in-service workshop. The sample consisted of 24 junior school teachers, who were teaching Introductory Physical Science (IPS) materials and traditional materials (non-IPS). Three IPS and five traditional teachers were randomly…

This study examined acquisition and development of children's social/symbolic and strategic communication abilities within a sociolinguistic model of communicative competence. The major theoretical perspective was derived from Mead's symbolic interactionism and the cognitive-developmental theories of Piaget and Werner. Role-taking was the central…

This investigation was conducted to determine if 5-year-old students randomly chosen from an open classroom for 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds communicated at random across sex, race, and age groups. The classroom was composed of nine learning centers and was organized around the following activities: math, dramatic play, blocks, art, reading, listening,…

This module is designed to give the learner the opportunity to experience the difference between one-way and two-way communication. Activities in both types of communication are presented and reviewed in group discussions as they relate to feelings, timing, and accuracy of response. (MJM)

One way that educationally disadvantaged children can be helped to succeed more often in schools is to ask their parents to join in an educational partnership with teachers for the benefit of their children. The acquisition of teaching skills allows the parents to focus their efforts. The use of positive verbal reinforcement was selected as the…

The two teaching units in this document present listening and speaking as dynamic skills and emphasize learning through discovery and induction. "Listening to Understand" encourages the student to participate primarily as a member of a group rather than as an individual. Classroom exercises are listed for teaching students efficient listening, the…

During the summer of 1968 a special summer program in sociolinguistics ("Language, Society, and the Child") was held at the University of California, Berkeley. This program grew out of the research on "children's language acquisition in a variety of cultures" which has been underway at that institution for four years. Originally it was planned to…

A description of the audiolingual nature of second languages as they are learned by all children introduces this discussion of the suitability of teaching foreign languages to the visually handicapped and the added dimension it would give to life. The role of the language laboratory in learning a foreign language is stressed. An annotated…

The major purpose of this project was to plan, implement, and evaluate a high school one-semester experimental curriculum stressing the communicative aspects of the arts and humanities as a means of student self-discovery and realization. The curriculum consisted of 4 major unit, composed of individual study modules, on popular media and on…

This paper examines the power of particular affect and rejection socioquestions to produce characteristic patterns across all the sociometric choices of 576 fifth-graders in 18 classrooms. Of particular concern are the degrees of centrality exhibited in response to socioquestions which pertain to academic competence and failure and the overall…

This booklet offers practical, easy-to-read suggestions for teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents to help them understand language development and language disabilities. The first section highlights some of the factors involved in language development. The second section deals with some of the common causes for language disabilities and…

This anthology for students of media consists of essays and articles grouped under four topics: media forms, media content, media environments, and "the last word." Media forms deals with the nature of these kinds of media: electronic, print, film, music, and comics, graffiti, and clothing. Media content contains articles on the news, advertising,…