Australian Review of Applied Linguistics - Volume 16, Issue 2, 1993

The significance of children’s literature in early reading development is supported through linguistic analysis of literary texts for young children and the transcripts of classroom interaction deriving from the reading of these texts. This paper will provide a sample analysis of texts for young readers. It will examine the use of colour coding in illustrations, alignment of textual cues in illustrations with corresponding segments of the main text and the use of speech bubbles to repeat selected dialogic exchanges from the main text. The analysis will show how these features interact with Thematic variation of projecting and projected clauses in dialogic segments of the main text. This interaction provides textual scaffolding which assists beginning readers to actively engage in meaningful shared reading of literary texts for young children.

This paper reports some findings of a study of six year old and ten year old children which suggests that the process of language acquisition is by no means complete at the age of five (a popular misconception in some of the early literature). In particular, it is suggested that the later years are marked by an increase in the complexity of structures at group/phrase level. The study did not reveal significant developments at clause level, but several were noted at discourse level, including an increased sensitivity to the role of topic-selection in developing the shape of a text, and to the broader structural requirements of different genres.

The hypothesis presented in this paper is that the sequence of ‘modifier-modified’ is a fundamental unit of sequencing in Modern Standard Chinese (MSC). It is shown that this sequencing unit extends beyond word pairs such as adjective-noun to sentences with complex clauses and also that it constitutes a fundamental principle of sequencing at discourse and text levels. Examples of ‘modifier—modified’ sequencing (also called ‘because—therefore’ sequencing) occurring at levels of the complex sentence, extended spoken discourse and written text are provided. These examples are taken from naturally occurring MSC data.

A discussion concerning the implications of the differences in information sequencing between MSC and English in the fields of cross-cultural communication and language teaching concludes the paper.

In the present state of changes and challenges facing our classroom practices, various approaches and curriculum designs have focussed on different publics and their needs, rather than on notions based on types of discourses and learning situations. That is partly because we still lack analytical tools to evaluate what is happening in L2 acquisition in classrooms contexts. In this discussion paper, a pilot study is described which addresses questions related to transcription and qualitative data analysis in an attempt to pinpoint lesson features which may help or hinder the development of second language skills. The focus is on the ecology of the classroom and the importance of mime and gesture in relation to students’ responses specifically in terms of active listening and comprehension.

In this paper student Case Notes are analysed to exemplify the degrees of linguistic intricacy that come into play within the context of legal discourse – the ‘target discourse1-and to demonstrate that apprenticeship into this particular academic discourse community involves more than familiarisation with content specific material on the one hand and the control of common English structural conventions on the other. The discussion sets out to show that the intricate and often ‘hidden’ (as in ‘not made explicit’) linguistic demands academic discourses impose on NESB students need to be brought out into the open to highlight and clarify the association between specific lexicogrammatical realisations and generic meanings in the discourse. The paper concludes by emphasising the need for linguistically informed assistance for NESB learners at the tertiary level.

Religious language use in a multilingual community represents a special case of language planning. The choice of a liturgical language is determined both by religious and practical considerations and is based, in part, on the ways in which people view sacred activities. The Catholic Church has at various times during its history promoted and condemned the celebration of the Mass in vernacular languages. The language policy of the Church has been a response to two factors: the need for uniformity and integrity of doctrine and the need for the worshipping community to have access to the meaning of the words of the liturgical action. These two factors have received different emphases at different times in the history of the Church with the consequence that the Church has supported either plurality or uniformity in the choice of the liturgical languages of the Mass.