Interpreting, or oral translation, deals exclusively and intensively with language in action. The process develops and exercises intellectual, personal, and linguistic skills. However, its introduction into second language curricula would require changing expectations and strategies. The syllabus for a course component in interpreting should have…

This book contains 20 articles, from a wide variety of perspectives, designed to bridge the interests of researchers and teachers on the topic of current composition research. The following articles are included: "Studying the Writing Abilities of a University Freshman Class: Strategies from a Case Study" (Charles R. Cooper, with Roger…

A course in English for business administration using the case study method is described. The course is designed for graduate students and makes use of a common technique for analyzing and solving business problems. The approach is aimed at improving both oral and writing skills in English through small group discussion and written analysis. A…

A study investigated the foreign language needs of employees in Finland's Ministry of the Interior as a basis for developing a language training policy. Both individual employees and department heads were surveyed about perceived language training needs. Results suggest that foreign language proficiency is very important to the ministry's…

Presenting sound instructional strategies and writing theories, these proceedings of a conference held at Marymount Manhattan College address the needs of writing teachers at all educational levels. Following an introduction outlining the conference and the "New York Writes" project, the keynote address discusses the renewed interest in…

Intended for teachers and others having responsibility for shaping language policy in the schools, this collection of invited, original articles is based on the belief that a teacher's task is not to "teach" children language but, rather, to create an environment that will allow language learning to occur naturally. The book is divided into four…

This is one of a series of handbooks designed to assist classroom teachers, bilingual-bicultural education and special education program staff, counselors, and school administrators in instructional services for students from native Alaskan language groups. The unique sociocultural and linguistic characteristics of Yup'ik speakers as they relate…

The predrafted Oregon Individual Short-Term Plan/Records on oral language (grades 1-3), covering skills such as sound discrimination, listening comprehension, critical listening, basic language patterns, oral expression, and vocabulary development, were designed for migrant children who attend a school for only 2 to 6 weeks. Migrant education…

This is one of three volumes of instructional games devised to further the development of children's listening, logical thinking, problem solving, and oral communication skills. The games are designed to create a relaxed, informal setting in which teachers can encourage and support children's natural speech and provide language activities that…

This report gives a history of the 1979-80 segment of a continuing project that is designed to provide a theoretically based description of children's transition from prereading to reading, along with tools that teachers may use to assess children's emerging literacy abilities. The first chapter provides an introduction to the project, while the…

This book contains two case studies of teachers telling epic oral stories to teach math to elementary and middle school students. The book also includes theoretical discussions of essential elements of oral storytelling, multicultural education, how oral storytelling can help children who have difficulty learning mathematics, and mathematical…

This study examined the effects of social class background on children's oral language development. The study focused on children's oral vocabulary knowledge because such knowledge provides a good summary of language skills, is easily measured, and is very consequential for later schooling success. Using a large national data set, the study…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the use of connectives by learners of English as a foreign language and their length of study. Eighteen writing samples were collected, six from learners with 2 years of study of English and 12 from learners with 3 years of study. Results found that students' length of study was…

An instructional module designed to help prepare college-level teaching assistants (TAs) for their duties in second language instruction is presented. The module focuses on the teaching of oral language skills in a beginning or intermediate language course. The first section examines features of spoken language, including the range of uses of…

Describes the development of an instrument designed to assess the language competence of second language learners by observing natural interactions in transitional bilingual classrooms. A pilot study that assessed the social language of 24 bilingual fifth-graders in a summer math program provided data for examining the instrument's reliability and…