Drawing from papers presented at the five "Stabilizing Indigenous Languages" symposia held since 1994, this paper recommends strategies for language revitalization at various stages of language loss. Based on a study of minority languages worldwide, Joshua Fishman postulated a continuum of eight stages of language loss, ranging from the…

Analysis of a few short segments of discourse, produced by two Afro-American college students in a freshman composition class, demonstrates one obvious way in which young people in the United States are severely threatened by the educational system. "Darrell" tells the story of how he was suspended from high school by a respected teacher…

As an extension of African-Americans' rich language and musical heritage and abilities, rap music has some value in the educational setting. Rap music started as a dance fad beginning in the mid-1970s among Blacks and Hispanics in New York's outer boroughs. It is another generational brand of Black language and musical usage and an extension of…

This paper examines the use of heritage languages in Canada and the processes surrounding the maintenance or shift of these minority languages in Canada's different linguistic minority groups. Studies of language shift or maintenance in Canada generally concern the relative positions of English and French and the changing patterns of usage along…

The principle of empathic learning (involving activities that help students feel what it is to be like someone else) can be used to teach poetry, a material about which students have strong prejudices, and an activity they cannot imagine themselves ever doing or being interested in. First, students are presented with the conception that people…

A study investigated how people make indirect refusals ("You don't need to move the bookcase" meaning "No, I won't help you move it"), and the types of information used to do so. Two experiments were conducted. The first asked 130 students (third, fifth, and eighth graders as well as college undergraduates) to write refusals to…

A study investigated whether gender differences in proscribed language behavior, attitudes, and beliefs would emerge from an anonymous self-report questionnaire. A total of 87 men and 87 women enrolled in 6 sections of a required sophomore course at a regional southeastern university voluntarily completed the questionnaire which was designed to…

This paper reports on a paper to develop two computer text corpora, called Hong Kong Texts on Hong Kong," at the University of Hong Kong English Centre. These corpora are intended to serve as a resource for teachers and researchers who need information on English usage in published text in Hong Kong. The aim of the report is to disseminate…

This paper examines the use of simplification in second language instruction. It argues that although simplification is a necessary process in coping with the conceptual and experiential chaos of the classroom, it is a potentially dangerous process that risks creating categories that become too insensitive to cope with changing audiences and…

This paper examines the nature of dictionaries and encyclopedias, focusing on some of the preparation that has gone into the construction of a dictionary of language testing at the University of Melbourne (Australia). It discusses the purpose of such dictionaries, the nature and size of dictionary/encyclopedia entries, and the readability of…

This paper presents an analysis of the meanings and uses of two reflexive morphemes in the Mohawk language. Reflexive "atat" is shown to have both reflexive and reciprocal meanings. It is also realized in kinship terms and in the transitive pronominal prefix "yutat." Semi-reflexive "at" has some reflexive functions,…

An updated version of a 1984 publication, this 49-item annotated bibliography focuses on rhetorical analysis of American feminist rhetoric published in communication journals. The selections date from 1962 to 1988. (NKA)

In a study of writing perceptions held by college faculty in disciplines other than English, 81 faculty members indicated whether each of 67 student writing errors bothered them a great deal, a little, or not at all. Results showed that teachers did not strongly object to errors apparently produced by carelessness or by ignorance of finer…

Two studies examined the relationship between word knowledge and reading comprehension. Subjects were college undergraduates with high and low verbal abilities as indicated by a standardized verbal aptitude test. The first study involved a multiple choice vocabulary test from which words that both groups defined correctly were selected. The…

The role and status of English instruction in West Germany is outlined. The regions of West Berlin, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia are highlighted. The role of English and English instruction in the country as a whole, English instruction in the educational system, the demand for and qualifications of English teachers, textbook selection and…