The evolution and activities of the National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia Limited during its first three years are described. The institute consists of a complex network of activities across Australia, including; a research and policy coordination center in Canberra; nine research and development centers specializing in various…

A planned 3-year joint project of the Nordic research council for the humanities that focuses on writing development in school-age children is described. Four Nordic countries are involved in the project: Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. In the study, discourse-level performance analyses of student writing in English as a Second Language are…

Papers given at an international conference applying the social sciences to the study of the relationships of languages include the following: "Reseaux sociaux et comportements langagiers en milieu de contact des langues" ("Social Networks and Language Behaviors in a Language Contact Setting") by M. Blanc and J. Hamers, with…

Research conducted since the early 1970s has provided important insights into how written language develops and how teachers can best foster that growth. One of these promotes the holistic approach to language instruction--to nurture the emergent speller is to nurture the emergent reader, writer, speaker, listener, and thinker. Another important…

A profile of the state of English and English instruction in New Zealand covers the following topics: a description of the role and status of English language use in industry and commerce, government, and education; the role of English at all levels of the educational system; the availability and training of teachers of English, the type of…

This booklet contains information on the Languages of the Disciplines Project, a federally funded program that seeks to identify the problems in receptive communication encountered by beginning university students in specific disciplines and the techniques for helping these students overcome their problems. The first section of the booklet notes…

This discussion of the use of computer programming in syntactic analysis covers three major points: (1) a review of basic notions in automatic grammars; (2) a description of the grammar used in a pilot project which analysed the linguistic content of methods of teaching foreign languages; and (3) proposals on the application of the same techniques…

The use of poetry in the second language class is explored as a means of gentle, non-threatening communication. Techniques for using poetry to teach intonation, using adjectives, verbs, pronunciation, and syntax, as well as for offering the student another means of expressing feelings, are explored. Sample poems and lessons are discussed, and…

Learning academic English is probably one of the surest, most reliable ways of attaining socioeconomic success in the United States today. Learners cannot function in school settings effectively without it. This variety of English entails the multiple, complex features of English required for success in public schooling and career advancement. It…

Argues that from the perspective of second language learning, college teachers should focus on an integrated undergraduate curriculum combining the teaching of linguistics and literature with language learning in an instructional approach informed by second language acquisition research. Emphasizes that multiple benefits are derived from a…

Discusses the close connection between cultural beliefs and practices and the use of language and focuses on the erosive impact of Western language literacy on native cultures. Suggests that when teachers teach connections between first- and second-language discourses, students can retain the intimate truths of their primary discourse while…

Describes factors influencing growth in demand for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in German higher education since 1989, and describes how Dresden University has designed a curriculum to meet the need. The Dresden program includes courses in generic scientific English required in a number of disciplines, elective English courses…

The Australian Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ASLPR) is a scale that describes how second language proficiency develops on a scale from zero to native-like proficiency, providing performance descriptions in terms of practical tasks. Initially developed for English second language teaching, it has been adapted for English dialects in…

A discussion of bilingualism in young children in the Soviet Union looks at the three main forms of early bilingualism (bilingual home environment, different languages spoken at home and in school, and second language instruction in school), notes the challenges they pose for development and maintenance of bilingual skills, and then describes a…

The Unit for Advanced Studies in Modern Swedish (FUMS) at Uppsala University has one of the largest collections of spontaneous present-day spoken Swedish and has housed many sociolinguistic research projects since the 1960s. The four studies generating the most empirical data are on: The Urban Dialect of Eskilstuna; The Child's Linguistic…