摘要:

Professionals constantly work back and forth between the insights of theory and the constraints of practice in an effort to construct a reasonably well‐informed framework within which to conduct their day‐to‐day activities. One interesting aspect of the theory/practice dichotomy is the impact of acknowledged experts on the classroom behaviors of teachers. In this article I describe in detail one technique for teaching writing to ESL students and use this description as the basis for a discussion of the nature of technique. I then trace my teaching behaviors back to a number of individuals who have influenced my attitudes toward and approaches to the teaching of writing. Finally, I attempt to characterize the relationship between a successful classroom technique and the teachings of

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586578

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Since bilingual school programs are part of the fabric of society, they reflect major social patterns and processes that characterize society at large. Thus, an understanding of the social objectives and outcomes of bilingual education programs requires an understanding of both the broad sociocultural context of which they are a part and the relationship of the school to its larger context. In the present study, ethnographic procedures were used to observe social interactions among the staff of an early French immersion program in Montreal over a one‐year period. Since the staff was made up of French Canadian and English Canadian teachers who were members of ethnolinguistic groups in conflict, it was expected that social interaction in the school would also be conflictual. Strategies of conflict management were thus also observed.It was found, as expected, that interaction among the staff was conflictual and that the underlying tension could be related to societally based group conflict. It was also found that the teachers used two main interaction strategies to minimize interpersonal conflict and to maintain a semblance of professional harmony: 1) avoidance of social interaction and 2) the predominant use of English in cross‐group communication. These strategies in turn can be traced to now outdated sociolinguistic norms that prevailed when English dominated French in the community. These findings suggest that although the long‐term social objectives of immersion and other bilingual school programs may be to promote bilingualism and facilitate intergroup contact, the actual interaction patterns of teachers working in such schools may portray the very conflict and inequities they seek to re

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586579

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The study reported in this article used classical psychometric, latent trait, and nonparametric approaches to analyze 13‐ and 14‐item scales of English language proficiency. Tests of English listening comprehension (dictation) and reading (“copytest”) were constructed by modifying the standard dictation testing procedure to create items of text segments which varied considerably in both length and difficulty. Both the dictation and copytest were found to be homogeneous, cumulative scales of language proficiency with high reliability and validity. Log ability scores provided by Rasch analysis were found to correlate better with other measures of language proficiency than did the dictation and copytest raw scores. These findings indicate that the two language testing techniques investigated provide a useful, innovative approach to measuring general aspects of language proficiency. The theoretical and practical advantages of this approach over other language proficiency measurement techniques are discussed, as are implications for measuring other cognitive va

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586580

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The recent finding by composition researchers and teachers that the composing process can be taught as an intellectual and cognitive activity has led to a renewed interest in the ancient art of invention and the view that invention can be practiced as systematic procedures of discovery, the primary purpose of which is to generate ideas about a subject. This article reviews composition and invention research, discusses a variety of discovery techniques, and provides a rationale for teaching invention in an academic writing course. One student's notes are then presented to illustrate how invention can be successfully employed to narrow down a topic, generate content, discover a form, and create a thesis for an assigned essay. The article concludes by suggesting that although ESL students may experience invention differently from their native English‐speaking counterparts, they can benefit from instruction in invention which is adapted to meet their need

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586581

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article examines how writers orient their readers in expository essays. A total of 110 essays (30 native English and 80 non‐native English) were analyzed to explore the orienting skills of native and non‐native English speakers. Results indicate that native English writers employ a wide variety of linguistic devices to engage their readers' attention and help their readers identify the participants, objects, and events about which they write. By contrast, non‐native English writers are more limited in their ability to orient their readers. Despite the greater length of their orientations, their use of attention‐engaging and clarifying devices is comparatively res

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586582

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Traditionally, second language syllabus organization has been based on the assumption that how a language is described is related to how it is processed by learners of that language. This article examines two traditional approaches to syllabus design in terms of how each defines this relationship. Underlying one approach is the assumption that second language (L2) structures which differ most from equivalent structures in a learner's native language (L1) are also the most difficult to learn and should therefore be given greatest emphasis in the syllabus. The other approach is based on the premise that there is a direct relationship between linguistic complexity and learning difficulty and that a syllabus should therefore present target structures to the learner in order of increasing linguistic complexity. These approaches are evaluated from linguistic perspectives on the nature of language and psycholinguistic evidence on the sequence of language acquisition. Recent studies on interlanguage development are cited to argue that syllabus design can be enhanced by attention to both approaches—more specifically, to the issues of first language transfer and target language complexity. The article does not advocate a return to exclusive use of either approach; rather, it emphasizes new perspectives which each can bring to the selection and grading of syllabus item

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586583

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article examines the problem of sexism in ESL materials—how sexism is manifested in ESL textbooks and with what consequences. Following a review of research on the relationship between language and sexism, a recent content analysis of the 15 currently most widely used ESL textbooks (according to a compilation of textbook lists from 27 ESL centers) is described. The study focused on the categories of omission in text and illustrations, firstness, occupational visibility in text and illustrations, nouns, masculine generic constructions, and adjectives. The findings are then summarized and analyzed, and the two least sexist textbooks and the main problem areas in the others are discusse

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586584

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586585

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Literature for Discussion: A Reader for Advanced Students of English as a Second Language.John F. Povey

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586586

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0039-8322    

DOI:10.2307/3586587

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1984

数据来源: WILEY