A study of 51 speakers in rural Illinois showed fronting and raising of (aw) to be considerably more advanced among countryside dwellers than among town residents. Discusses some of the social and economic changes contributing to this phonological shift. (EKN)

Undergraduates read three different versions of a paragraph on ethical standards of psychologists (reflecting three levels of sexist pronoun usage). Sexist language appeared to influence the students' rating of the attractiveness of careers in psychology for males and females and their willingness to refer male or female friends to psychologists.…

Verbal interactions of 18 hyperactive boys (8 to 11 years old) with their mothers during 15-minute free play and task periods were studied and compared to interactions of 18 normal boys with their mothers. Both hyperactive boys and their mothers were found to use significantly more utterances in free play than normal mother-child dyads.…

The relationship between linguistic processes, cognitive activities, and social structures is explored by examining the decision-making of committees of educators deciding whether or not to place students in special education programs. Differential treatment of committee members is explained by the authority their reports gain by their language…

After tracing the history of English grammar, the author defends the teaching of traditional grammar. A suitable English grammar must: (1) recognize the influence of Latin upon English; (2) describe the language while acknowledging its ambiguities; and (3) serve as a reliable guide to usage. (PP)

Many negative assumptions about Blacks are reflected in current language and the language in literary works, dictionaries, the media, textbooks, and tests. Teachers must try to eliminate racist language and behavior by discouraging the use of negative language and by helping students to appreciate language flexibility and cultural diversity.…

Discusses an approach to teaching second language composition which emphasizes (1) careful analysis of model texts from a limited, but well-defined perspective and (2) the application of text manipulation techniques developed by the word processing industry to student compositions. (EKN)

Transcripts analyzed by computer programs reveal that when individuals shift from truthfulness to deception, there are corresponding shifts in lexical diversity, such as fewer words, decrease in the number of unique words used, fewer past tense verbs, and a decrease in the perceptual-cognitive activity. (PD)

Offers suggestions from five contributors dealing with word games, the teacher's role in reading instruction, running and reading comprehension, video games and Rubik's Cube and photoessays. (FL)

Suggests criteria and strategies for an efficient use of textbook grammar presentations to give students a useful and native-like language. Shows how text deficiencies can be remedied through rearrangement and deletion of grammatical points and emphasizes the need for reentering useful, high frequency items in new contexts throughout the course.…

Reveals that Native American writers and their literary productions are focal points by which various stages of acculturation and counter-acculturation can be measured, and they must be taken into account in any serious study on the results of cultural contact in North America. (NEC)

Investigates the role of pupil language in classroom learning through an ethnographic study of one "good" teacher and her class, particularly three average and above-average pupils. (HOD)

Describes political consciousness in collectivities. Symbolist thought, focused on the idea of "myth," is linked with material thought, focused on the concept of "ideology." Suggests that a description of political consciousness can be constructed from the structures of meaning exhibited by a society's vocabulary of…

Tested the persuasiveness of three extended concluding metaphors: sex, death, and sex-death. (Speech topic for high school students was the anti-legalization of marihuana.) Results indicated that attitudes changed more toward the position advocated in the speech when it contained a concluding sex metaphor than when it did not. (PD)

Reports the findings of a study that was designed to explore children's use of language in the adversative episode. (FL)