Noting that young children learn to talk at different ages but within certain developmental boundaries, this document presents two charts to help parents facilitate their toddler's speech. The first chart lists characteristics to look for in a growing, healthy baby at various ages between 3 months and 24 months, and suggestions for when to talk to…

This report discusses the teaching of French intonation through computerized instruction. In particular, the development of a computer program for teaching French intonation is described and explained. The first part of the report examines the role of oral language instruction in French, including a history and overview of methodologies. The…

This paper is rooted in an expanded view of construct validity, whereby the role of testers does not end in the development phase of the language tests they employ. Rather, testers need to follow the uses of these tests and examine issues of utility, relevance, ethics, and interpretation. The studies reported here focused on three national…

A survey of 32 Japanese and 44 native English-speaking teachers of English as a Second Language investigated how the two groups evaluate the English speech skills of Japanese students. A 59-item questionnaire was designed to elicit comparative information on definition of oral proficiency, criteria (including newer ones derived from instruction…

A study of the use of the Maori language among residents of the North Island of New Zealand drew on data from interviews with members of 6,470 Maori families over the period 1973-1979. Over 6,915 heads of household gave data concerning their knowledge of the language, their use of it in a variety of situations, and their attitudes and experiences…

This paper attempts to survey some of the activities that fall under the umbrella of "debate" at Hong Kong University by focusing on a variety of disparate practices across the university, ranging from one-to-one argument to legal moots, from informal classroom discussions to departmental and cross-faculty debating events and…

A discussion of oral language testing looks at the role of student attitudes, student and interviewer gender, and interviewer social status in the reliability of student assessments. Three small-scale studies investigating these factors are described. The first two involved only Arab students. In the first, it was found that students (all male)…

A teacher's manual is presented for "The Working Experience," a series of three texts for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. The series builds on oral skills to develop reading and writing ability while still expanding oral English-language proficiency. Because one of the basic principles underlying the series is the idea that students…

Books 1, 2, and 3 of "The Working Experience," a series of texts for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students, are contained in this document. The series builds on oral skills to develop reading and writing ability while still expanding oral English-language proficiency. Since one of the basic principles underlying the series is the idea that…

This study examined the relationship between early language measures and kindergarten literacy measures for children from 40 low-income families. Early literacy measures were based on conversations between mother and child during a book-reading session; the child's report of an event as elicited by the mother; and mealtime. Conversations were…

A discussion of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction begins with a review of the English language teaching situation in Singapore today and goes on to examine issues in the production of ESL instructional materials. The focus is on oral language instruction. The first section, concerning Singapore, outlines the structure of syllabuses…

A study investigated the oral and written language used in college student groups working on draft revisions. Subjects were 19 freshmen in a composition class. Data were gathered in two speech situations: (1) students and instructor engaged in revision; and (2) a three-student peer group revision session with no teacher present. The use of…

A practicum study, recognizing the expressive language delays of inner-city kindergarten children, implemented two strategies to increase their expressive language ability and their mean length of utterance. The target population, 14 kindergarten students who demonstrated vocabulary development delays on the Brigance Kindergarten Screening Test,…

Originally developed for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on developing oral language is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an overview on the topic; the full text of several…

A study compared the effects of cognitive complexity on the speech production of 14 advanced non-native speakers of English and 14 native English-speakers. Cognitively simple and complex tasks were distinguished based on text type (narrative versus expository). Subjects read one narrative and one expository text in separate sessions, then wrote…