A study was conducted to assess the ability of children to distinguish native from non-native English and to determine the age at which they reach the adult level of recognition ability. A brief passage containing the segmental phonemes of English was recorded by ten native and ten non-native speakers of Standard American English. The tape was…

This drillbook concentrates on making the student aware of the nature of the differences between his English habits of speech and the Spanish habits he is trying to acquire. The extensive exercises are structured selectively in order of specific difficulties of pronunciation. In the major sections on intonation, vowels, and consonants, the authors…

A consensus has prevailed among educators that Americans of verying ethnic, social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds who must communicate with each other in social, academic, and occupational situations might achieve a greater degree of rapport if the dialect of the English mutually spoken and the speech mannerisms used were standardized.…

The first of a two-volume study of the relative accessibility of French vocabulary in French-speaking Canada presents statistical data concerning the frequency, distribution, valence, and accessibility of vocabulary related to 16 fundamental centers of interest found in normal conversation. The scope, procedures, and results of the study are…

The second of a two-volume study of the relative accessibility of French vocabulary in French-speaking Acadia, this study presents statistical data concerning the degree of difficulty of recall of vocabulary related to 16 fundamental centers of interest found in normal conversation. The data are derived from responses of 700 students ranging from…

A discussion of classroom communication looks at the function of questions, particularly teacher-initiated pedagogical questions but also other classroom questions, either teacher- or student-initiated. Two fourth grade science lessons, conducted in Brazil by different teachers, are analyzed. Analysis focuses on the relative effects of the…

This paper draws from a number of sources, from Muhammad Ali to TV commercials, to demonstrate the quite different conceptions that black and white Americans have of the meaning of boasting and bragging. For blacks, boasting and bragging are two distinct ways of speaking and communication. Boasting is a joking, playful verbal bahavior, not to be…

Some basic problems of current lower-division foreign language instruction are discussed from the standpoint of real-life language use, and specific measures for meeting some of the problems are suggested for learning German as a second language. Some of the significant discrepancies between the use of a language in real life and in the language…

The paper focuses on the linguistic behavior of Negro children concentrated in communities where a non-standard form of English is the accepted currency. Such children are verbal, possess a language fully developed to serve the needs of their "world," and think effectively enough to survive in a sometimes hostile environment. Certain basic…

This pamphlet presents the content of a workshop on the contrastive analysis of Spanish and English sounds which create pronunciation difficulties for Mexican- American children learning the English language. Introductory remarks lead to teaching procedures for: (1) "ch" (voiceless alveo-palatal affricate, (2) "sh" (voiceless alveo-palatal…

Noting the close relationship among language, thought, culture, personality, and self awareness, anthropological linguistics acknowledges the powerful and real function language styles play in human life, the close attachment between the individual and his natural manner of speech, and the sensitivity that surrounds an individual's attachment to…

A review of the literature on child language reveals little research on overgeneralization in the speech of the bilingual child. Questions arise regarding (1) the existence of interlingual overgeneralizations, and (2) the possibility that monolingual deviations and bilingual code switching might be forms of overgeneralization. Because a model for…

Initiated in 1965, the Standard Speech Development Program of the Pittsburgh Public Schools was designed to give junior high school students control of standard English speech through oral pattern drills based on particular phonetic or grammatical structures of standard English. By the end of the 1967-68 school year, pattern drills were part of…

Language acquisition in bilingual communities is noted to be fundamentally distinct from other types of second language learning. Discussion centers about the multi-dialectal, bilingual speech community of Miami with respect to educational opportunities afforded the city's ethnic groups. The function and achievement of the Spanish Curricula Center…

This volume is the first of two volumes of a basic elementary course in Indonesian (Malay). The aim of these materials is to prepare the student to communicate and read Indonesian as a native speaker does. The books are designed to be used with the help of a native-speaking informant who furnishes the model of speech for students to imitate. The…