The nature of literary translation and ways in which it differs from other forms of translation are examined, looking at practical difficulties, challenges, and satisfaction in the profession of literary translation. The difficulties discussed include suggestions about how to get started, legal questions of copyright, and choice of text.…

A discussion of the senior high school curriculum in Nigeria focuses on the role of English, considered an important language for educated individuals. An overview of the structure of the secondary curriculum is offered, and the sociolinguistic and pedagogical significance of English in the society is examined briefly. The senior high school…

A study of interlanguage comprehension, part of a larger project by the Gothenburg research group, investigated the telephone conversations between advanced learners and native speakers of Swedish. In four of the eight conversations, the non-native speakers called the public library to get information on how to borrow books; in the other four the…

The grammar is designed to be used as a reference for addressing structural problems in Czech. The guide is organized into 11 chapters. The first describes the pronunciation of written Czech and explains spelling conventions. Aspects of the language covered here include the alphabet, arrangement of words in the dictionary, vowels, diphthongs,…

A study of Greek speakers' ability to understand and produce two varieities of codes--Katharevousa (K) and Demotic (D)--is reported. The investigation was undertaken to provide evidence supporting or refuting the Greek government's decision to legislate Demotic as the official language of the country. A sample of 545 informants were tested with a…

While the concepts of language continuum and diglossia are widely cited and discussed, they remain generally vague and are used in different ways by different linguists. Recent sociolinguistic research on Dutch-speaking Belgium provides a framework for examining the two concepts, a context for proposing a theoretical definition for language…

The basic problem of communicating in Arabic today is the existence of two language varieties, one spoken and one written. These may even be considered two distinct languages. They have existed side by side for as long as one knows. Classical written Arabic became fossilized and developed as a closed system independent of common usage and…

This paper examines the relevant literature on American Indian dialectal variations of English and efforts to maintain American Indian languages through bilingual education programs. The preservation of the ancestral Lakota dialect of the Siouan language is discussed in terms of the implications for educational program planning. It is concluded…

A study of the relationship between patterns of use of the verb "to be" and reading comprehension had as subjects 103 college freshmen in a developmental program, including 53 black and 50 white students. The students' use of Black English constructions of the verb on a writing skills test and their errors in response to a reading comprehension…

In analyzing the issue of the extent to which speaking a nonstandard dialect of English affects a child's ability to learn to read, this paper reviews linguistic and reading research from the 1960s to the present and notes how that research has changed and developed. Based on this research, the paper argues that (1) there is no direct causal…

Although the practical applications of language contribute to the development of language proficiency, United States schools have persevered in a formal language over a language-in-use emphasis in the language curriculum. A focus on gaining isolated language skills has led to a serious neglect of the social aspects of language. Public concern…

Whether black students should be required to use standard English in school is a controversial issue that has fostered contradictory opinions, studies, and data. This annotated bibliography of more than 100 items provides a wide range of material dealing with the following aspects of this topic: the historical backgrounds of black English, the…

This study attempts to determine the extent to which performance on educational tests is dependent upon language proficiency. Three questions are involved: (1) Will the dictation and the cloze tests prove to be as successful in distinguishing degrees of proficiency among native speakers as among second language learners? (2) How well will scores…

An advanced reading text designed for use with a basic course in Persian offered by the Defense Language Institute is presented. The course is an intensive program for native English speakers. The book, which is an adaptation of material originally developed in Iran, is used when the students have completed volumes one to eight. The material is…

There has been growing interest in the effect on achievement of teacher and student attitudes toward language. This paper attempts to examine the relevant studies in this area in order to draw some conclusions for bilingual bicultural classroom settings. The reported attitude studies focus on research with standard and non-standard varieties of…