This concordance study uses a corpus of applied linguistic articles to explore how and why accomplished academic writers use quotations and citations, specifically the word 'say,' and analyses the lexical and grammatical choices they make. Citations were examined in almost 50,000 words from 11 articles to document use by experts writers. Overuse…

This paper investigates the intentional creation of ambiguity by composers of cryptic crossword puzzles. Taking a research question of "what makes a cryptic clue more difficult to solve than a simple crossword clue," it compares a sample of cryptic and quick crosswords from "The Guardian" and attempts to isolate the linguistic…

A study examined mothers' accuracy in predicting the responses their children would give and the scores they would achieve on two standardized vocabulary tests. Specifically, the study's primary purpose was to examine maternal estimates of both expressive and receptive vocabulary skills according to two indices: accuracy of total score and…

An exposition is made of a method to elicit students' comprehension of the meaning of words commonly used in science, which may be influential in determining what they learn. The method's aim is to elucidate features in students' understanding of childrens' science (that found before formal teaching of science), student science (that found after…

Examined the relationship between childhood malnutrition and later intellectual development in 18 severely malnourished (SM) children who participated in a 3-year home visitation intervention. Follow-ups done 7, 8, 9, and 14 years after hospitalization showed that these children had markedly higher vocabulary and achievement scores than a control…

The present study investigated the Egyptian postgraduate students' difficulties in writing abstracts in English. In order to achieve the objectives of this study, a list of criteria for writing a good and effective abstract has been developed in the light of the review of literature. Besides, a content analysis of 35 abstracts written in English…

This paper addresses the potential value of language-related criteria for use in identifying ethnic minorities in the Netherlands. A description of the way the Dutch government defines ethnic minority groups is followed by a comparative outline of the use of language-related criteria in countries with a longer tradition of immigration (Australia,…

This study investigates the validity of second language vocabulary tests, and whether or not test scores accurately reflect the quality of language behavior in real-life situations. It attempts to prove the validity of vocabulary testing by comparing test scores to indices of vocabulary richness in second language production. The student subjects…

Discusses the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) to Islamic students finishing their secondary education to enable them to read, with reasonable speed and comprehension, texts in their special subject areas. Gives specific teaching strategies that can be applied to normal ESL instruction. (EKN)

Aimed to determine the basic English words Japanese students are not familiar with and to develop a reliable and easy-to-use vocabulary survey. Investigated the relationship between familiarity and second language and first-language recall to judge the amount students overestimate their vocabulary when using a self-checking familiarity survey.…

In order to understand how learning occurs in children from different cultures, the learning profiles of Japanese and American children who ranged in age from 4 to 6 was examined, using the Iowa Early Learning Assessment Instrument (IELA). After the English instructions of the IELA were translated into Japanese the IELA was sent to Japan and was…

This paper reports two studies that investigate differences in comprehension monitoring skills between good and poor comprehenders. Two groups of 9- to 10-year-olds, who were matched for reading vocabulary and word recognition skills but who differed in comprehension skill, were selected. In the first study, in which the children were required to…

This paper summarizes research findings on academic reading obtained from a questionnaire, two reading tests, and a textbook analysis and discusses essential reading skills required of foreign language (FL) learners in carrying out their academic studies as well as the skills with which they have problems. Results revealed that the essential…

The teacher handbook for Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) in Reading presents an overall description of these survey tests in reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge for school years 3 to 9. There are two alternative forms of each test: (1) the Reading Comprehension tests are designed to measure two major aspects of reading skills…

ARROW (Aural-Read-Respond-Oral-Written) is a multisensory teaching approach where children listen to their own voices on tape recorders. Advantages of the ARROW program as demonstrated at four sites in Blackford, Somerset (England), with elementary/secondary students presenting moderate to severe learning difficulties, reading/spelling/vocabulary…