Analysis of research literature shows both important commonalities and differences between how children learn to read and how adults can be taught to read in literacy programs. Both the narrow and broad definitions of literacy are legitimate for specific purposes. The narrow definition identifies literacy acquisition with learning how the writing…

American students are exposed to many different romanization systems when learning Chinese. The most important systems include Pinyin, Zhuyin fuhao, Wade-Giles, Gwoyeu Romatzhy, and the Yale system, to name just a few. The Pinyin system, which is built on the English alphabet, is the official transliteration system of mainland China. The Zhuyin…

The determinants of English language fluency among immigrants and the effects of fluency on earnings are examined, using a unique data set and a sample of more than 800 illegal aliens apprehended in Los Angeles, California. Analysis of the data show the importance of certain variables not previously available, speaking fluency at migration and…

Researchers too frequently consider the reliability of the scores they analyze, and this may lead to incorrect conclusions. Practice in this regard may be negatively influenced by telegraphic habits of speech implying that tests possess reliability and other measurement characteristics. Styles of speaking in journal articles, in textbooks, and in…

A study examined the use of three linguistic features imitating speech found in two groups of direct-mail marketing texts, in order to show differences in the ways U.S.-based and transnational efforts exploit readers' expectations regarding "literate" versus "oral" modes of expression. Two groups of sales letters, 25 U.S.-based…

A cloze-type procedure can be used effectively to teach interpreters how to anticipate what the speaker will say, inferring communicative intention. The exercise uses a text from which words are deleted, not randomly as in the true cloze procedure, but in significant locations or contexts. The words or groups of words suppressed are progressively…

As a step toward developing appropriate instructional techniques to help learning disabled college students, mechanical errors were compared in the expository essays and controlled stimulus passages (rewrites) of 15 learning disabled, 15 normal, and 15 basic writers at the college level. Analysis of both types of writing samples showed that…

A program of research was conducted to define the most crucial aspects of print awareness and to develop a tool to measure the resulting construct, validate the instrument, and explore the role print awareness plays in the acquisition of young children's literacy skills. Four basic concepts concerning print that are necessary to give print…

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication instruction to classroom practice, this booklet focuses on how children and young adults make meaning in speech and writing and on ways teachers can encourage their language development. Following a brief introduction, the first major section of the booklet…

In order not to waste the time of the people working hard and sacrificing to become literate, literacy must offer them a real opportunity to change their life situation. Although many literacy programs are designed to fit the everyday lives and situations of their students, the same is not true for programs that teach arithmetic. Most adults…

All language use, including written school language, is rhetorical and communicative, and both composing and reading textbooks are rhetorical situations that include interactions and transactions. One issue concerning text characteristics is whether the diverse parts that authors play influence how students learn from their books and respond to…

An experiment concerning Japanese college students' ability to express themselves in English to non-Japanese English-speakers is reported. Freshmen and sophomores at two Japanese four-year colleges were asked to give written English responses to six specific communicative situations. Results showed that while few of the responses were…

The role of language transfer in the acquisition of English as a second language as indicated in the production of relative clauses was examined. Analysis of adult Arab students' written responses to a variety of test types revealed that (1) language transfer is a significant factor in second language acquisition; (2) there is a distinction…

Both writers and readers experience auditory imagery of intonations, accents, and hesitations in written language, and some aspects of this "written language prosody" are made partially overt through punctuation. Two studies explored the relationship between written language prosody and punctuation. The first study asked people to read…

Drawing on a cross-national study of children's reading, a study examined the correlates of reading success and failure in Taiwan. Subjects, 240 randomly selected Taipei fifth graders, were administered a reading test, cognitive test, and mathematics achievement test. A structured interview with each child's mother and classroom behavior…