Compares holistic scoring of nonnative writing in English with multiple trait assessment and scoring. (JL)

This article presents a survey and analysis of Examiners' Reports on French written papers, looking specifically at difficulties in using verbs appropriately. It draws on evidence from second-language acquisition research to determine the nature of the problem and hypothesizes links between the decline in written accuracy and the rise in oral…

Multilevel analyses compared performances of 12 deaf Jamaican adolescents (ages 15 and 16) and 12 hearing adolescents (ages 13 and 14) on writing, reading, and (for deaf subjects) sign language tasks. The deaf adolescents' ability to express complex ideas in sign language supported the need for use of a bilingual approach to the teaching of…

This study focused on the input-to-intake phenomenon: Can foreign language/second language (L2) learner-readers process grammatical information presented via written input as intake? Multiple tasks were designed to assess the processing of input into intake by first- and second-year students of Spanish. (JL)

Examined 37 written and oral narrative pairs produced in a film retell task by college-level learners of English as a Second Language. Results found a developmental pattern in the distribution of tense/aspect morphology with respect to narrative structure. (contains 41 references) (MDM)

This study of normally achieving second graders, language-learning-disabled children, and adults with literacy problems (total n=27) found that morphological knowledge in spoken language was highly related to morpheme use in written language samples. Results suggest that morphological knowledge does not develop solely as a function of maturation…

This article presents strategies, including communicative reading strategies, to facilitate holistic language learning in young children with language and learning disorders. Strategies include pairing oral and written language and using preparatory sets, semantic maps, flowcharts, and theme building. An example of narrative discourse demonstrates…

Discusses intercultural problems of writing academic English in a non-English context, specifically in Finland. It is argued that before such courses are designed for academic nonnative writers and for teachers of such writers, it is essential to conduct textlinguistic research into cultural and linguistic differences in the practices existing…

A multidimensional approach analyzes the linguistic characteristics of 26 Somali spoken and written registers. Somali represents a different language type, and no single dimension adequately describes the relations among registers. Findings are related to previous analyses of English, Tuvaluan, and Korean. (27 references) (Author/LB)

Most early childhood teachers support breaking away from the letter-a-week method of teaching the alphabet but question how to achieve that goal. Concepts related to how young children learn the alphabetic principle are reviewed and successful strategies for teaching the principle are presented. (LB)

Individual bilingual language performance in occasional songs is examined with focus on the use of Danish and English by a female member of a Danish-American organization in both song-writing and organizational written recordkeeping. The findings confirm the hypothesis of a conditioning effect of features of genre and social role on the…

Comments on the use of mother-tongues in written communication and basic education, using literacy programs in multilinguistic contexts as an example of the plurality of literacies. Democracy and citizenship, and the social demand for communication competence in postindustrial societies, are discussed with respect to the continuity dimension of…

An analysis of letters written by 19th-century African Americans shows constraints on verbal "-s" marking that parallel those found in the writing of Scotch-Irish immigrants in the same time period and region, specifically a subject type constraint and a proximity to subject constraint. (MDM)

The conceptual activities required in an organizational behavior course are analyzed to study how they determined the nature of discourse. It is argued that these activities can be transferred from the English for Academic Purposes classroom to university content courses and can help nonnative speakers adapt to those areas. (36 references)…

This study assessed reading difficulties and cognitive impairments of German-speaking dyslexic children at grade levels two, three, and four. It was found that German dyslexic children suffered from a pervasive speed deficit for all types of reading tasks, including text, high frequency words, and psuedowords but, at the same time, showed…