This paper examines the importance of teaching about non-standard dialect awareness in English departments, focusing on African American Vernacular English (AAVE). The paper asserts that it is the job of teachers to present students with appropriate knowledge about language and to raise awareness of nonstandard dialects, rather than perpetuate…

Directs attention to informal varieties of inservice teacher education, such as that provided by the contact between practicing English teachers and consultants. (HOD)

Recent reform initiatives, especially the No Child Left Behind Act, tend to rely on a variety of highly debatable assumptions that fail to reflect the diversity of today's classrooms and also place pressure on educators in a manner we characterize as accountability by assumption. Such reform initiatives have become so political, complex, and…

Recent reform initiatives, especially the No Child Left Behind Act, tend to rely on a variety of highly debatable assumptions that fail to reflect the diversity of today's classrooms and also place pressure on educators in a manner we characterize as accountability by assumption. Such reform initiatives have become so political, complex, and…

This article analyzes the few published references to gender variation among Plains Indians in order to contribute to a growing corpus of literature concerned with building a more complete picture of the social and cultural lives of individuals accustomed to these practices. In recent years these people have been known among Native Americans under…

For over twenty years, Tim Cahill's writing has appeared in popular publications such as "Outside" and "Rolling Stone," and in many academic contexts, ranging from remedial and freshman composition textbooks to the use of his novels and short story collections in a variety of upper division literary courses. Cahill, then, is a…

Presents a quiz for use in the advanced English classroom that introduces language learners to a variety of amusing slang expressions and idioms. The learner is led to consider the possibility of a little-known rule in English: male=positive, female=negative, and is offered an opportunity for discussion and vocabulary building. (Author/VWL)

Argues that dominant theories of first- and second-language acquisition treat language as though it were a culturally homogeneous phenomenon. Because language learners are taught a core variety of the target language, they are often unaware of the cultural differences within the language, tending to see the core language as representative of a…

The multitext approach to the teaching of English allows for more teacher control over course content, greater variety in subject matter, easier provision for individual differences, and less financial expenditure. (DD)

The importance of learning and providing thorough cultural information to students learning a second language is illustrated with a variety of examples showing misunderstanding between Chinese and English-speaking individuals. (MSE)

Ways that dictation helps students learn English as a Foreign Language are discussed. Varieties of dictation are included along with one teacher's experience using it in a Chinese university. (one reference) (LB)

Provides an account of a class discussion of the poem, "Grace" by the Native American writer Joy Harjo. Describes how students systematically investigated the meaning of the title. Asks teachers to use Native American poetry more and provides sources of such works. (HB)

Byron Spring DELTA Center serves a small farming community in Colorado offers high school diploma programs, English-as-a-Second-Language courses, lifelong learning, and a variety of other programs for teens and adults. (JOW)

Teaching in the two-year college, which was once considered to be a stepping-stone to teaching at a four-year college or university, has become a unique profession in itself. In the years ahead, community colleges should be actively involved in cooperating in developing English curricula. Prospective teachers of English at two-year schools need to…

Stories consume lives and lives become stories. A unit of study examines the creation of self in autobiographies and biographies looking closely at how we construct a life from the fragments of human experience and memory. This paper looks briefly at the different theoretical perspectives about biography and autobiography, following closely the…