This study aims to suggest a checklist for teachers and researchers to analyze English as a second or foreign language textbooks from a sociolinguistic perspective. In the literature there is not a checklist or framework by which English textbooks can be evaluated considering the sociolinguistics issues raised in this study. After obtaining expert…

This article is a response to a request to consider the following three questions in relation to the recent history of research into student learning in higher education: What do we know?, What do we need to know?, and What might we do about it? A survey of article titles reporting on research into student learning was carried out in three key…

The prosodic features of maternal speech to infants were measured quantitatively in a tonal language, Mandarin Chinese, to determine whether the features were similar to those observed in nontonal languages such as English and German. The pattern of results for Mandarin motherese was similar to that reported for other languages. (PCB)

People in a shopping mall were asked to read a paragraph about an achieving woman given the title Miss, Mrs., Ms., or not given a title. Readers of Ms titled paragraph rated her less honest. No effects obtained for other rating dimensions. Results may indicate public acceptance of Ms title. (MCK)

Kindergarten children were observed in a classroom situation to discover communicative competence in the sociolinguistic area. These children demonstrated competency in awareness of regularities in use of language in the classroom, ability to publicize confusions, and variations in ways of speaking. (DF)

Argues that the ability to narrate experience relies upon pervasive, culturally shared, and unquestioned myths. Analyzes the oral narrative of a seven-year-old Black female elementary school student. (FMW)

Uses the "line and stanza" method to analyze and compare texts representing different cultural backgrounds and ages. Proposes that the textual characteristics identified by the Formalists as the measure of literature are actually the hallmarks of a cross-cultural human capacity for making deep sense of experience. (FMW)

Argues that the focus of literacy studies or applied linguistics should not be language, or literacy, but social practices. Introduces a concept of language usage called "Discourse," incorporating words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes. (FMW)

Proposes that literacy must be judged against social background. Analyzes the racial and social differences in the interpretations of a story by a working-class Black student, a working-class White student, and an upper-class White student. (FMW)

If language research is to arrive at valid analyses of speech behavior, both observation and elicitation methods of data collection will have to be used as necessary complements to one another. The advantages and disadvantages of different research methods are discussed. (CB)

Argues that second language learning is a form of enculturation that involves learning the perspectives and identities that a culture allows and values. Proposes that a language teacher is actually changing the cultural identity of the student. (FMW)

In this chapter, the authors aim to review recent, sociocultural studies of classroom-based research in science education in light of a sample of practice-based research within the field of science studies. They provide a framework for examining the discipline of science that can also be useful for assessing its impact on students. The framework…

Describes how linguistic analysis can change the computer from a generator of data that can be used to develop a critical analysis to a tool that provides a means to explore the processes and inputs that generate different interpretations of literary works. Illustrates this concept by analyzing a Shakespearean sonnet. (CFR)

The academic literature on issues related to the Philippine English language and literature is substantial. This bibliography surveys relevant work on such related fields as the sociology of language and language planning, Bilingualism, bilingual education, and languages in education, language attitudes, code-switching and code-mixing, Philippine…

Defines literacy as the control of secondary uses of language. Differentiates between the natural process of language acquisition and the formal process of language learning. Discusses the social conflict involved for the minority group student in the formal classroom setting. (FMW)