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In recent years, there has been a growing research interest in the analysis of errors adults make while learning a second language. The underlying objective of most of these analyses has been to reveal the systematicity of adult errors in an effort to understand the process of adult second language learning. This paper deals with errors from a different point of view, namely, from the listener or reader's point of view. The question asked is, which types of errors cause the listener or reader to misunderstand the message intended by the EFL learner? Based on the judgments of native English speakers about the comprehensibility of hundreds of sentences containing errors of EFL learners all over the world, linguistic criteria for determining the communicative importance of learners' errors are suggested. Areas of English syntax that cause important communicative errors usually neglected in most EFL training materials are discussed. The paper concludes with the application of this particular error analysis approach to the EFL classroom. (Author)

The term generative phonolgy refers to statements, rules or axioms which can produce all but only those well-formed utterances of a language. The goal of this theory is to make precise and explicit the ability of native speakers to produce utterances of a particular language. In generative phonology, the level of the phoneme is redefined to match the deeper level of abstraction aimed for in the most efficient conception of phonological processes. It is the task of the phonological rules to account for the predictable aspects of pronunciation whether they relate to alternate pronunciations of the same basic morpheme or different phonetic forms that a sound can take. These rules, made to look like "mathematical formulas," provide an explicit means of capturing the general principles of various phonological processes: 1) assimilation, 2) neutralization, 3) deletion, 4) coalescence, 5) epenthesis, and 6) redistribution. The incorporation of distinctive features into a generative phonology allows the linguist to state explicitly important generalizations about the phonology of a language. (PM)

The stylistics of belief is the study of the ways in which language is used by speakers to express their beliefs, to convince other people they are right, or to avoid committing themselves to particular beliefs. Such study can contribute to an understanding of the ways in which people misuse and manipulate language for their own ends. The underlying belief system of the speaker, what linguists and philosophers call presuppositions, determines the choice of syntactic construction and specific words in a given utterance. The term "style" presupposes that there is not a single way of saying what we have to say, but in fact that we have available to us many possible choices for expressing outselves. The choice of style, however, is limited by our presuppositions, our estimation of our audience, and the contextual limitations dictated by our cultural expectations. Two linguistic areas that relate to analysis of style are syntax and word-choice. Syntactic exploitation refers to the use of sentence structures that permit deletion of linguistic material when deletion occurs in contexts where the reader is unable to recover the deleted material. Exploitation through word-choice can be divided into two types: the use of words for their emotional effect, their connotations, and for labeling; and metaphors. (WR)

This research is the result of 10 weeks of field work in Taiwan during the summer of 1972. It consists of a description, analysis, and comparison of the morphologically marked causative verbs in Rukai, Bunun, Tsou, Anis, Seedig, and Saisiyat. The theoretical framework employed is a type of case grammar referred to as "lexicase," a generative but nontransformational approach to syntax. The different approaches taken by several linguists to the problem of causation constructions are described, and then each of the six languages is considered independently. It is concluded that there is one typological characteristic common to all the languages studied, the clear and fundamental division of verbs into two classes, active and passive. (PP)

Feminist resentment of journalistic language use can be found in published letters to the editor, in feminist periodicals, and in public address. This paper examines commentary on language, noting the charge that journalistic language frequently is discriminatory and offensive to women in defining them, in designating their identity, and in revealing the assumption that "all people are male unless proven female." The implications for journalism practice and research which arise from feminist language critiques include: (1) the need in journalism to consider linguistic perspectives, (2) the possibility that language change will be accomplished deliberately, (3) the consideration of journalistic language from the viewpoints of language both as director and as reflector of social change, (4) the possibility that journalistic language use produces covert signals which reduce potential audiences and inhibit opinion formation, and (5) the challenge which faces journalism educators in teaching women students and in preparing all students to understand relationships between social change and language change and the mediating role played by journalism in public dialogue. (Author)

This paper reports on a Comparative Reading project that was conducted in 14 countries. The 14 countries included India, Germany, U.S.S.R., Great Britain, Israel, U.S.A., Finland, Japan, Hong Kong, France, Denmark, Argentina, Norway, and Sweden. The contents include: "The Significance of Culture," which discusses the value which various cultures place on literacy, sex roles in literacy acquisition, and cultural priorities; "Cultural and Linguistic Mismatch," which looks at the child's progress in reading and its relationship to his understanding of linguistic concepts, a model depicting the child's situation when he undertakes the task of literacy acquisition, research related to cognitive reactions and linguistic mismatch, culture and emotion, and dialects; and "Conclusion," which emphasizes the importance of the school and educators adapting to the child's world as he perceives it through the child's culture and the child's own language. (WR)

Just as a reader must bring an experiential conceptual background to the printed page, so must he bring an ability to recognize the graphic cues that signal meaning. The graphic cues or structural meaning works as a system the description of which can be outlined in three parts as the vocabulary, the structure, and the sound. What has been neglected in the area of vacabulary is the concept that words alone do not carry precise meaning until they are placed in the structural and intonational system of the English language. An individual's sense of structure gives the written work meaning or determines how it means in contrast to what it means. Intonation functions as a controller of meaning. Generally speaking, the structural and intonational signals are not new. What is new is that this description of how meaning is structured is linked to the language that the child already knows intuitively so that the whole system can be taught without technical terminology at an early age and as the child is learning to read. What is also new is that this knowledge of the signals is not isolated as part of a spelling program or a grammar lesson but in the context of meaning in reading. (WR)

Sociolinguistics is characterized by a concern for viewing language variation and for seeing language in real social contexts. It has a high potential for relationship and application to other fields such as education, sociology, and psychology. Sociolinguistics try to study the speech of a community, and instead of studying the presence or absence of given features in the community, they feel that much can be learned by seeing such features on a continuum. This continuum does not distinguish between right language and wrong language. Each item of the continuum has the potential for appropriateness and accuracy if the proper context is discovered. The point is also made that a speaker may intentionally select forms which, in some other context, would be considered stigmatized. An example is cited of a young boy who deliberately chose to read orally in a monotonous, mechanical way, because he felt that reading with expression would label him a "sissy." It is noted that speakers also make unintentional selection of stigmatized language, as in the use of hypercorrections. Sociolinguistics also study the subject reactions of people to language produced by others. The results of these studies should prove to be important for language teaching and planning. (Author/PM)

As a result of its isolative pattern of development, linguistics is now beginning to suffer from not having a natural apprenticeship domain, making it difficult for new graduates to find work. The field has been lacking in entrepreneurial tendencies and unimaginative in developing either a potential clientele or a repertoire of uses. Linguistics can be developed within the university by infiltrating other disciplines such as English, education, and speech, where with careful management (e.g., small pilot programs initially) and a cooperative attitude on the part of the linguist, all the disciplines involved linguistics outside the university, the linguist must also overcome his attitude of elitism and discover methods of breaking into such areas as information processing and retrieval, medicine, psychiatry, lexicography, publishing, the communications industry, and educational consulting. Finally, if linguists are to expand territorial imperative, several commitments are necessary: (1) a dramatic change in attitudes, (2) the development of an active information office and placement service, and (3) the orientation of training programs to develop new perspectives. (LG)

The study of language is an interdisciplinary field, since language can be seen to embody characteristics of psychology, linguistics, literature, sociology, anthropology, education, and the sciences. Teachers of language can no longer afford to ignore useful information from any of the underlying disciplines. If language teaching is to be assisted by these disciplines, the following conditions must be met: (1) the various fields involved must admit that they all have something to learn from each other; (2) these several fields must be willing to communicate their knowledge in such a way that it sees life from the learner's viewpoint; (3) they must meet other disciplines halfway; (4) they must be less concerned with internal orthodoxy and more about the long range success of their clients; and (5) they must realize they are all in a constant state of change. There is now evidence that the various academic fields are opening up to fresh ideas from allied disciplines. Thus, the task of joining linguistics with other fields in the service of foreign language instruction no longer seems farfetched. The advent of sociolinguistics has helped crystalize this interdisciplinary trend. Because of its focus on variability, sociolinguistics makes educators more aware of the importance of the setting and the lifestyle from which a student comes. (Author/PM)

The major purpose of this study was to provide insights into some of the reasoning strategies that may be used by students in obtaining meaning from the printed page. The study was designed to collect and analyze the verbal protocols of 11 seventh grade students involved in introspection as they responded to standardized measures of reading comprehension. The protocols were taped and later transcribed for analysis. A tree diagram feature analysis of the verbalizations was used to classify the responses into discrete strategies. The analysis scheme was subjected to a test of applicability. The proportion of agreement (.86) obtained by 10 independent judges was judged to be satisfactory to insure the reliability of the technique. Descriptive and statistical data reported frequency of use and successes, and showed significant strategy effect and a strategy-times-item type interaction for each individual. The study demonstrated the usefulness of introspection as a method for gathering information about the process of reading. It also supported the notion that reasoning strategies can be identified by careful and systematic analysis of students' verbal protocols. (Author/WR)

A definition and a general description of communication that makes use of the insights of linguistics and psychology are presented in this paper, along with a conceptual model of communication that incorporates a systems approach. Following a lengthy discussion of the components required for a communication exchange, the systems approach model is described and schematized. The concepts image (the locus of a plan) and plan (a chain of images) are then related to the acts of sending and receiving messages, and the element of intentional and unintentional communication is discussed. Finally, the contributions from the fields of behavioristic and neobehavioristic psychology and linguistics are discussed, and it is concluded that a semantic theory which recognizes the plan/image duality in communication systems will have to be formalized. (RB)

The statement by the Executive Committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication affirming the student's right to his own language--his dialect--poses a challenge deserving further research, especially as it concerns the classroom situation. Black English, a dialect with linguistic principles whose roots can be traced to West Africa, has not been accepted by most educators although it has been shown to bee a logical mode of expression. The effect of focusing standard English onto students accustomed to using black English has been negligible. Moreover, the proposal that children be taught to read and write in their own dialects and then be allowed to switch to standard English after they have grasped the principle of correspondence between written letters and spoken language will not preserve our heritage of dialects. Implicit in the right to language is the responsibility for communicability, but until more is written and understood in black English, many questions remain unanswered concerning its communicability. (JM)

As a part of the Institute for Services to Education's (ISE) continuing effort to revise the curriculum and pedagogy of the Thirteen-College Curriculum Program (TCCP), the English staff of ISE brought reading specialists from the consortia schools together during the 1972 summer conference to examine the relationship of reading to TCCP. An outgrowth of that conference was the Washington Reading Conference, which brought together reading specialists from the Eight- and Five-College Consortia. This publication records the highlights of that conference: "About the Institute for Services to Education"; "About the Thirteen-College Curriculum Program"; "The Relationship of reading to TCCP," which presents talks given by the president, the vice-president, and the senior program associate, English, of ISE; "Consortia Reading Concerns as Expressed by Reading Specialists," which presents some of the major concerns of college reading specialists with their college students; and "Presentations by Special Consultants," which presents a talk on college reading curricula for black students and one on reading and linguistics. In addition, the "Appendices" present two reports on reading in the ISE English program and a list of conference staff members, consultants, and participants. (WR)

One can measure the readability of any piece of reading material for an individual or a group by having the selection read and then testing for comprehension. Increasingly the cloze procedure has come to be used in preference to multiple-choice questions. Other readability scales have been based on previously scaled passages, on carefully graded books, and on the combined judgments of a group of experts. Two variables have consistently stood out as providing the best combination in the measurement of readability. The first is the difficulty of the vocabulary used, which is usually measured by finding the percentage of words that do not appear in a specific list of common, easy words. Spelling patterns as indices of vocabulary difficulty have just begun to be explored and seem promising. The second widely used variable is average sentence length, which seems to represent the many specific reasons why beginnings have been made in the automatic computer scoring of complicated linguistic variables such as syntactic depth and density. The specific factors that make some reading material hard to understand, such as vagueness, ambiguity, and lack of explicitness, are areas in which more research is needed. (WR)

This paper asks whether the imprecision and complexity of natural language, as opposed to the language of science or logic, represent flaws or essential functional properties. It is argued that ambiguity can be manipulated by the speaker through environmentally derived characteristics. A discussion follows on the study of the functions of language as conceived by the Prague school, and the effect of functional linguistics on American sociolinguistics. While both schools agree on a definition of the term "functions of language," the central problem is a disagreement in the approach to the study of language functions. The Prague school postulates a specific number of functions on the basis of a particular theoretical understanding of the speech act, while the American school believes that language functions should be discovered rather than postulated. As only extensive further research can lead to a definitive theory of language functions, it is hoped that the significance of the functions of language will be recognized, and that the study of functional linguistics will benefit structural linguistics as well. (AM)

During the great increase in college enrollments of the 1950's and 1960's, many linguists saw opportunities for expanding the prominence and practice of linguistics by starting a linguistics program where there had been none before. New linguistics programs can no longer be justified in view of the current job market. The number of linguists being graduated each year far exceeds the number of available positions. Consequently, many linguists already trained will not work as linguists, through no choice of their own, in the coming decades. Students in our colleges and universities would be better off majoring in a more traditional, well-charted discipline, with the option of selecting as many linguistics electives, available in several different Departments, as their time and interests permit. This is not to say that existing linguistics departments must be broken up, but that the present balance between institutions with active linguistics departments and those without should be maintained. (PMP)

On- and off-campus opportunities for linguists with the schools of education at their own colleges and with public education in general are discussed, with a view to suggesting new areas of employment for those in linguistics. Depending on the linguist's background, there are many people in education to contact. Student teacher supervisors, reading teachers, and those who work with curriculum design are often highly receptive to and interested in the linguist's ideas. People working with social studies can utilize work done in linguistic geography and social dialectology. Abstract concepts of newer grammar models interest those who train mathematics teachers, and guidance counselors are interested in psycholinguistics. Particular emphasis is given to the need for more cooperation between professional educators and scholars, and several ways in which linguists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have handled the problem of interdisciplinary cooperation are described. (PMP)

The characteristics of several nonstandard dialects of American English are presented in this paper in the form of an inventory of features. It has been compiled with the recognition that nonstandard dialects are governed by pronunciation and grammatical rules and that within the broad category of nonstandard dialects, regional and ethnic variations occur. The code used in the inventory to designate major varieties of nonstandard dialects consists of: (1) NS--used in all nonstandard varieties of American English, including northern white NS, southern white NS, and black English; (2) SWNS--southern white NS; (3) S--southern white standard (possible considered nonstandard in some northern contexts); and (4) BE--black English. The inventory includes sections on consonant cluster reduction; the "th" sounds; the "r" and "l" sounds; final "b,""d," and "g"; nasalization; vowel glides; verb constructions; the copula verb concord; negation; the possessive forms; plurals; pronominal apposition; relative clauses; questions; demonstratives; and pronouns. (JM)

This paper represents introductory class material on linguistics. A definition of "linguistics" is attempted through a definition of "science" and "language." The American structuralist conception of linguistics as a science is characterized by the view that linguistics is the application of the inductive methods to the collection and analysis of language data. The generativist conception of linguistics as a science is characterized by the view that the description of a language is a deductive theory in which the sentences of the language are generated from rules of grammar. The language that is studied by a linguist is characterized as "human" and "natural." These terms are examined: human language as opposed to animal communication; and natural language as opposed to artificial and scientific language. Finally, linguistics is distinguished from other disciplines which are also concerned with human language by the fact that language is the primary object of study in linguistics, while in other disciplines language is ancillary. Finally, various branches of linguistics are discussed as they relate to structural and synchronic linguistics. (AM)