"Edinburgh Working Papers" is intended to show a yearly cross-section of current work in Edinburgh's Department of Applied Linguistics and to elicit reactions and criticism. Articles in this volume include the following: "MSC Common Room Conversations: Topics and Terms" (Joan Cutting); "Speculation and Empiricism in Applied Linguistics" (Alan…

Training courses for teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) at the elementary and secondary levels, implemented in Brunei in 1989, are described, and proposals for a new teacher certification level are examined. The first course leads to a diploma in elementary/secondary ESL teaching, and is characterized by both written and practical work…

Courses in English for special purposes, particularly in business, should be extended to native speakers of English. Problems of intercultural communication occur not only when people operate across linguistic boundaries but also when those people share a common language, particularly as new non-native varieties of English are becoming more…

By comparing the language performance of native speakers of Mandarin Chinese and English to English second language performance across similar speech events, a study suggests a methodology for discovering potential areas of pragmatic transfer. Subjects were 6 native American English speakers and 12 native Chinese-speakers, 6 using Chinese and 6…

The materials status report for Tigrinya, which is spoken in Ethiopia, is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching a given language to English speakers. Each report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of the language, the areas where it is spoken, its…

The materials status report for Zulu is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching a given language to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of the language, the areas where it is spoken, its major dialects, its writing system,…

The materials status report for Xhosa is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching a given language to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of the language, the areas where it is spoken, its major dialects, its writing system,…

The research reported in this paper is concerned with three questions. Are the processes of language development complete by the time children begin school? What is the order of the emergence of control of grammatical rules? And is that order similar for first and second language learners? The data used in the analysis come from a project centered…

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…

Reflections on past and future uses of intelligence tests are presented. Three current approaches to intelligence tests are described: (1) neural efficiency, which relates the speed or quality of functioning of the neural system to test results; (2) information processing--cognitive micro-processes used in solving test items; and (3)…

During the spring and summer of 1975, 666 Mexican Americans in 3 Southern California cities were surveyed to examine the relationship between various social, economic, and cultural aspects of the Mexican American population and their contact with mental health services. Sixty-three of the respondents were considered to have had contact with mental…

This paper presents a preliminary model for a table of specifications for Language Curricula Development Center Language Arts materials. Description of the development of the Criterion-Referenced Unit Achievement Tests, including the tests' design, precedes the recommended model. The model categorizes the main components and behaviors of the SCDC…

This report is a summary of the results of the administration of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) Proficiency Tests to native speakers in Chile, Columbia, France, German, Italy, and Spain. The notion of a "superior" level of competence in reading, writing, aural comprehension, and speaking a second language is specified…

The means for ethnic language retention (ELRET) should be built into bilingual education programs in the United States. Currently there are very few programs designed to help a foreign speaker maintain his mother-tongue ability as he learns a new language. Materials designed in this field should take advantage of the concept of "domain…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of a motivational/attitudinal questionnaire developed for use with francophone students, and to assess the relation of attitudes and motivation to achievement in English. A secondary aim was to evaluate the relation of the context of second language acquisition to attitudes and achievement.…