Studies the gender-neutral use of "he" and "his" in first, third, and fifth graders and college students according to a modified version of a task developed by Moulton et al. (1978). Also uses a task involving a fictitious, gender-neutral occupation (a wudgemaker) to test third and fifth graders for possible effects of gender-related pronoun use…

Examines the language of writing groups at fifth, eighth, and eleventh grade levels to determine what students say when they critique one another's work. Analysis of idea units revealed that the highest proportion focused on the content of writing. The rubric for coding ideas is appended. (HOD)

Describes some of the strategies of repetition and metaphor used by Black American novelist Richard Wright, as a model that students can adopt in their own writing, both for generating ideas and for revising them. Appendixes include various drafts of an interview statement by Wright. (HTH)

Describes a study which attempts to place the problem of second language learning and use by bilingual children into a framework of double socialization through the analysis of mother-child and peer group interaction. Ukrainian and Greek second generation mothers and their children aged 5-6 years were observed in four sessions. (SED)

Presents a study of foreigner talk (FT) in a minority language (Welsh) in a bilingual community and describes some of the most prominent features of Welsh FT. FT is defined as a simple form of a language used by native speakers to communicate with non-proficient speakers of the language. (SED)

Changing Chinese address norms are discussed, including the term "tongzhi" ("comrade") and preferred use of official titles by some Chinese officials; use of traditional terms for "Mr.", "Mrs.", and "Miss"; second singular pronouns of "ni" and "nin"; address of women; and some…

Describes a study that analyzes narratives of sixth- and ninth-grade students for differences between male and female in T-unit length, clause length, and number of clauses per T-unit. No significant differences were found in the words per T-unit, the words per clause, or the use of verb extensions. (SED)

An approach to teaching grammar that combines an understanding of the error patterns of nonnative speakers and a theoretical model that describes that language is better suited than most to the actual audience of that instruction. (MSE)

Males (N=15) and females (N=15) in three age groups (children, adolescents, and adults) described a stimulus photograph for up to five minutes. These descriptions were transcribed and scored for frequency of language form and content. Analyses revealed significant sex differences in the form and content of spoken language. (BH)

Presents a writing assignment that requires lawyers in a technical writing class to address the needs of a client who is unhappy with a lawyer and with the language used by the lawyer in a legal document. (FL)

Presents a multilevel course model which applies English for Specific Purposes (ESP) principles to the design of teacher-training courses for "general" English as a Second Language teachers. The syllabus moves from content, through format and methodology, to the language required to understand content, while maintaining the subject-language link…

Describes the difficulties that students have in language use in the areas of math, social studies, science, and English as reported by high school teachers in Saskatoon and rural Saskatchewan. (CRH)

This article describes a set of exercises to be used in an English language course for adults. The exercises are designed to take into account (1) the human being and his or her language needs, (2) the structuring process of human speech, and (3) the foreign language itself. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

This paper provides a definition of communicaton applicable to second language teaching, and discusses the acquisition of basic skills, and the mental processes necessary for communication. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

A notional syllabus places the greatest emphasis on the use of the language, unlike most foreign language syllabuses, which emphasize its structural form. Each entry defines a type of purposeful communication. When the student has mastered the syllabus, he has thus acquired a communicative competence. (CFM)