This study looked at the use of a computer-based voice-interactive language learning system (VOXBOX) for teaching English as a Second Language. The intention of the study was to determine whether students who used VOXBOX as an exclusive instructional method could do as well as or better than students who used non-computerized, teacher-directed…

A study examined young children's emergent reading abilities through analysis of their assisted storybook interactions. Twelve storybooks were read to 41 preschool children during a two-week period preceding interviews. During the interviews, each child was asked to "read" a favorite storybook aloud to a stuffed animal and to the…

The casual conversation of six pairs of Japanese and six pairs of American colleges students was analyzed for evidence of two related aspects of conversation management: the linguistic characteristics of utterance units and back-channel strategies. Utterance units are defined as those occurring between identifiable pauses or breaks in tempo.…

Writing in English in New Zealand today is being invigorated by the strength of the Maori oral tradition: its use of metaphor, its expression of Maori values. It is the Maori tradition that is the source of a unique New Zealand identity, which emerges through the language and literature of Aotearoa (New Zealand), the use of strongly rooted Maori…

Second language classroom techniques and activities promoting oral proficency are suggested and discussed. The suggestions are based on a course organization that focuses on basic communicative goals and uses frequent conversation between paired students. The activities include retelling partner responses and situational role-playing. Approaches…

The need for an analytical approach to the study of phatic, metalingual, and metacommunicative functions in asymmetrical communicative situations (between native speakers and language learners) is discussed. The study presents theoretical frameworks for gambits and repairs, the linguistic phenomena that primarily serve those functions, and…

Generally, classroom discourse in foreign language teaching and learning is formalized and does not contain impromptu speech. However, analysis of classroom discourse in a German university foreign language course revealed that teachers' evaluative acts (followups) and "glides" linking one teacher-learner exchange to another do contain…

The textbuilding conventions of courtship narratives told by older women of contrasting ethnic minorities are examined. Listener responses to the stories indicate that storytelling conventions are not shared or understood by all listeners. It is proposed that membership in different speech communities based on factors such as age, sex, ethnicity,…

Six eclectic basal readers were evaluated to determine what basal readiness programs are teaching kindergarten and early first grade children. Each lesson was analyzed to discover the main purpose of instruction as stated in an objective or skill and the actual requirements placed upon the child during instruction. Using the recommendations from…

The teacher's manual for Peace Corps volunteer language training in Ciluba is designed for introductory oral language instruction. It is intended to assist trainees in functioning in the language within at least 6 weeks, and to transmit cultural information about the host country through linguistic structures, texts, and discussion topics. It…

Language learning is complex and mysterious--because of the many diverse factors that affect its development and because of the many unanswered questions about its nature. Even so, the efforts of countless researchers have provided sufficient knowledge to prompt some recommendations about how adults may nurture the language and literacy…

By emphasizing the similarities between writing and speaking, writing instructors can help students generate coherent, natural sounding prose. Instructors can point out the connections between speaking and writing by (1) reading good student writing aloud, (2) having students read their work aloud in class, (3) encouraging students to develop…

The goal of instruction in mainstream dialect (MD) acquisition should be to expand students' oral communication skills to include skills needed for academic and economic success, thereby making alternate dialect speakers bidialectic. This implies recognizing students' home dialect as a valid linguistic system and a part of their identity. Although…

A selection of language laboratory materials is presented for teachers of English as a second language to draw on in organizing preservice and inservice teacher education workshops. The materials consist of a set of audiotape recordings and tapescripts accompanied by a written commentary. Part 1 is an anthology of excerpts from English Language…

Spaning 30 years, the essays in this collection present variations on the theme of how, through language and social interaction, humans evolve increasingly more accurate maps of their worlds. The six essays in the first section, "Literature and the Shaping of Experience," point to a central concern for literature as a fundamental way of knowing…