Linguistics in remedial English (Janua Linguarum. Series Practica)

Having taught the most frustrating of English courses, remedial composition, for several semesters with inadequate materials and methods, I began in 1960 to devise a course that would effectively change the language habits of students using nonstandard English. I decided to experiment with language learning procedures being utilized by teachers of English as a foreign language at the English Language Institute of the University of Michigan. My assumption was that since remedial students are learning a language that is foreign to them, modern methods of teaching languages can be used with profit. In order to lessen the number of variables, 1 determined that I would teach only syntax and morphology by the methods of the English Language Institute. All other items such as punctuation, capitalization, and spelling would be taught conventionally, as they had been. Because the lessons used at the English Language Institute were not adequate for the special problems of remedial students, it was necessary to isolate the grammatical errors of an experimental group of freshman students and to make a linguistic description of them. I then designed and used lessons based on the structural errors desscribed. The experimental group met during the spring semester of 1961 at the State University College, Oswego, New York. The description of the errors and the results of using the lessons are found in the chapters that follow. I must express my appreciation to the people who have contributed their time and energy to help further this research. My family, down to the smallest of them, assisted in various ways -some of them unbelievable. I am especially grateful to Albert H. Marckwardt for his encouragement when the project was forming, and to A. K. Stevens, Finley Carpenter, Harold King, Charles Kreidler, and Fred Walcott who read the manuscript and offered much-needed advice. For any errors in judgment that might appear, however, I am indebted only to myself. Finally, I give my thanks to the lesser heroes who made this book not only necessary but possible -my students.

Lexiographica. Series Maior features monographs and edited volumes on the topics of lexicography and meta-lexicography. Works from the broader domain of lexicology are also included, provided they strengthen the theoretical, methodological and empirical basis of lexicography and meta-lexicography. The almost 150 books published in the series since its founding in 1984 clearly reflect the main themes and developments of the field.
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PREFACE TABLE OF CONTENTS I. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY II. MAKING THE NEW PATTERNS HABITUAL III. METHODS USED IN THE ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENT IV. THE ANALYSIS OF ERRORS AND THE METHODS OF CORRECTION V. STATISTICAL FINDINGS VI. RECOMMENDATIONS APPENDIX A APPENDIX B BIBLIOGRAPHY