This compact and well-written book considers multiple language use, some of its quantitative aspects, how people feel about multiple languages, and what society should or might do about multiple language problems. A list of comments, criticisms, and suggestions for revision is included with this largely favorable review. (SLD)

Reports on an investigation into the use of English in a prison in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa 5 years after the declaration of an official multilingual policy. Findings suggest that the use of English predominates in the high, official domains, that there is a marked avoidance of Afrikaans, and that Xhosa, the main language of the…

Contrasts differences in language use across the Japanese workplace, including women's speech. Examines what is referred to as "manifestations of power" among Japanese working women. Explores "resistance to subordination" among female university students who have not yet entered professional or domestic life. Comparison of the…

Investigates the relationship between knowing and using the perfect tense in French in a small-scale study carried out over 2 years involving a small group of learners. (Author/VWL)

Examined the recognition of English words by groups of native speakers of Italian who differed in age of arrival in Canada and amount of continued native language use. The dependent variable was the number of words correctly repeated in English sentences presented in noise. Significantly higher word recognition scores were obtained for early…

Examines use of the term "whole language" by the mass media, scholarly journals, and interested parties in a college town. Argues disputes about "whole language" have as much to do with cultural, political, and economic issues confronting the United States, and in particular the Southwest, as they do with any conversation about the "best way" to…

Presents annotations of 30 children's books published in 2000, vivid in language and diverse in genre, content, and style, selected as notable for their potential to enhance language awareness for children in grades K-8. (SG)

Suggests a careful study of the cultural values and poetics of early Native American songs and poetry can help students better understand these speakers and writers as people and artists. Describes a variety of classroom activities that explore such songs and poetry. Notes that the language is symbolic, making early Native American songs and…

Considers how adolescent discourse patterns outside of school can illuminate the stance students take in the classroom. Presents a narrative of two seventh-grade students, both marginalized by the academic and social aspects of school. Notes how in attempts to be accepted, both boys used the power of language to establish a dominant stance in the…

This paper adopts a sociocultural perspective on learning (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986) to explore connections between the concept of voicing (Bakhtin 1981, 1986) and a Year four student's second language learning in Australia. Results are drawn from a qualitative study conducted in the Australian outback, through ethnographic research strategies, which…

Cultural discontinuity refers to the lack of cohesion between two or more cultures. Upon entry into school, differences in the functional use of language among culturally and linguistically diverse children have been found to account for the discontinuity they experience. Because children come to school socialized to language in culture-specific…

The article discusses the use of Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication method to teach children who have emotional and behavioral challenges inside the music classroom. The method consists of using direct and nonjudgmental language, expressing feelings and needs, and finally making a request as opposed to a demand.

The importance of establishing a connection with readers in academic writing is now widely acknowledged. The growing literature on this topic, however, has largely concentrated on published "expert" texts and on the ways that writers use language to project their stance or identity. In contrast, this paper will focus on strategies which…

Pragmatics, the use of language in context, has been investigated only recently in the language used by children who stutter (CWS). Historically, researchers compared the length and complexity of the syntactic constructions produced by these children with those of children who do not stutter (CWNS) and generally found the CWS to be relatively…

Purpose: Low-income preschoolers' use of literate language features in oral narratives across three age groups (3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds) and two ethnic groups (Caucasian and African American) was examined. Method: Sixty-seven preschoolers generated a story using a wordless picture book. The literate language features examined were simple and…