Explores the function of items of procedural vocabulary as signals of conceptual relations in scientific discourse. Procedural vocabulary consists of lexical items that do not belong to any particular schema. Develops a taxonomy of procedural items in terms of the contextual relations they create between content-bearing words, classifying the…

Discusses ethnographic research in education issues that pertain to studies of second-language writing, examining six principles of ethnographic research, proposing and describing a prototype definition, reviewing three recent ethnographic studies of second-language writing, discussing generalizability, and introducing a series of issues critical…

Discusses autonomy in language related to East-Asian contexts, describing autonomy in language learning, proposing a framework for learners in all contexts, examining three sources of sociocultural influence that could affect students' approaches to learning in East Asia, and considering attitudes and habits of learning that might result from such…

Investigates how language events are reported in English. The article outlines four dimensions of choice for the reporter in any language: (1) the voice presented as the report's source; (2) the way in which the message is reported; (3) the reporting signal; and (4) the reporter's attitude. Some possible applications of the framework are outlined.…

Discusses how reading strategies can be successfully taught in second or foreign-language reading instruction, examining research that has been done on reading-strategy training and confronting the issue of how to make reading-strategy instruction appropriately text and context sensitive. Research that emphasizes the five metacognitive elements…

Discusses childhood bilingualism, reviewing the one person-one language principle and the criticism against it, discussing shortcomings of the criticism, examining what the principle can do to bilingual families, and noting the sociolinguistic and developmental effects that one person-one language principle can have on the acquisition of the…

Analyzes the linguistic notion of procedural vocabulary, proposing that several different vocabulary concepts are part of this type of vocabulary. The paper discusses the role of procedural vocabulary in discourse, suggesting that the concepts of schema and procedure are relevant for describing this type of vocabulary and categorizing it into two…

Discusses the ethnographic investigation of a multilingual adolescent peer group in which various forms of second/other-language learner status had considerable social significance. The study illustrates the ways a repertoire of languages and language learner statuses serve as differentiated resources adolescents draw on to define community and…

Focuses on the likely sources of variability in discourse structure by comparing the introductions to papers written in a variety of related disciplines by three groups of physical scientists: Anglo-Americans writing in English, Chinese people writing in English, and Chinese people writing in Chinese. (39 references) (GLR)

Applied linguistics and psychometrics have influenced language testing, providing additional tools for investigating factors affecting language test performance and assuring measurement reliability. An examination is presented of language testing, including the theoretical issues involved, the methodological advances, language test development,…

The Russian device for distinguishing between mass words and count words by forming singulatives through suffixation is studied. (PMJ)