The purpose of the study is to examine the differential validity and prediction of the SAT using a nationally representative sample of first-year college students admitted with the revised version of the SAT. The findings demonstrate that there are similar patterns of differential validity and prediction by gender, race/ethnicity, and best…

Interweaving sociological/interpretive and cognitive/linguistic perspectives, this book explores the ways in which children first encounter the written word in formal schooling. The book examines the "culture" of literacy as it is introduced and practiced in a corpus of 163 basal and supplementary readers used in a representative…

A study investigated 42 native English-speakers' (NSs) perceptions of the pragmatic appropriateness of refusal statements. The NSs rated the appropriateness of 24 written statements in 4 different refusal scenarios, which were collected from both native speakers and non-native speakers. Four weeks later, as a reliability check, the subjects rated…

Since the first definitive references to portfolio evaluation in assessment literature, metaphors have been significant in shaping students' and teachers' understanding of the role of the portfolio in the writing classroom. Consider the range of metaphors employed in discussions about portfolios. Margie Krest, for instance, emphasizes the social…

Claiming that understanding the social context in which words are formed is necessary to appreciate the richness and vitality of language, this book presents an informal, discursive examination of how and why American speech came to be the way it is, and in particular where the words came from. The book follows a roughly chronological format from…

This report offers a critique, from a linguistic viewpoint of the approach to grammatical description and prescription found in commonly used Australian school textbooks in 1987. Attention was directed solely towards grammatical content. A review of 41 primary and secondary level texts was conducted. All texts were published in Australia, and all…

Shakespeare has brought alive Western society's shared history and culture in a way no other playwright has ever done, and it is his relevance that makes reading his works worthwhile. Community college educators can prepare the citizens of the future to assimilate population trends and technological advancements by giving their students the widest…

The study examines origins of the usage patterns of "be" forms (conjugated and invariant forms of the copula) in Black English as they developed over a period of about 30 years. The corpus studied consists of selected interviews from a collection of recordings about Hoodoo, conjuration, witchcraft, and rootwork made by a white priest with almost…

Based on the principles of child psychologist Dr. Haim Ginott, this book explores how the language of their responses affects parents' interactions with their children, often negatively, and how positive changes can lead the way to easier parenting and a more amenable home environment, and build self-esteem, inspire confidence, and encourage…

According to this paper, the biggest hazard of a private language (or professional jargon) may not be that it obscures efforts to communicate with those outside the business, but rather that it successfully communicates ideas never intended. The paper explores one bit of "educationese"--"safe space" or "safe place"--and reflects on what language…

This discussion of the speech act of thanking looks at the basic functions of the act and responses to it in American English. It is argued that in general, "thank you" expressions are used to express appreciation of benefits and to enhance rapport between interlocutors, and that this basic use is extended to the functions of conversational…

A study investigated patterns of usage of "can" and "may" (e.g., "May/Can I go to the bathroom?") among native speakers and non-native speakers of English. A questionnaire was administered to 25 native English-speakers, most aged 19-26 and the remainder over age 45, and 56 non-native speakers taking advanced…

The starting point of this thesis is the hypothesis that in Spanish there are conventionalized expressions that signal both the articulation of text parts and the speaker's attitude towards the utterance. "Pragmatic Expressions" (PEs) are fixed lexical forms that contribute to text creation in relation to the context of enunciation, are oriented…

Presenting over 200 ready-to-use word games, this book introduces secondary English students of all ability levels to the joy of word play while they practice and review a wide variety of skills, including vocabulary, punctuation, word origins, spelling and pronunciation, grammar and usage, and literary devices. Many of the 5- to 15-minute word…

In this study, teacher language was described at the beginning and end of a school year. A third-grade teacher's language directed toward the entire class of 20 students as well as toward a group of 5 language-impaired children within that class was examined separately. The teacher's language content, form and usage were analyzed separately from…