Learning to read can pose a major challenge to students, and much of this challenge is due to the fact that written language is necessarily impoverished when compared to the rich, continuous speech signal. Prosodic elements of language are scarcely represented in written text, and while oral reading prosody has been addressed in the literature…

This review article evaluates the intersection of the content of two recent anthologies in second language (L2) phonology. One of the books lays out both the methodological context and theoretical underpinnings of the field, whereas the other volume reports 11 empirical studies on the L2 acquisition of several aspects of pronunciation by adult…

How do people define ethnicity and its membership? Primordialists argue that people group themselves using "primal" or permanent characteristics like physical similarity or a common language, religion, or history. Social mobilizationists, however, see ethnicity as more situational social phenomena, as an informal organization whereby…

Focuses on the directionality observed in the processes of change and acquisition of the prepositions that replaced Latin cases in the speech of Rio de Janeiro and in the contact Portuguese spoken by Brazilian Indians in the region of Xingu. (Author/VWL)

Discusses a shift in the distribution of first person plural pronouns, as well as changes in the patterns of use of the corresponding verb inflections, in spoken Brazilian Portuguese across four generations of speakers from Rio de Janeiro. (Author/VWL)

Describes some of the current research on Brazilian Portuguese phonology. Various techniques are discussed that analysts utilize to investigate Brazilian Portuguese nasality. (49 references) (CB)

Examines the Brazilian Portuguese use of verb tenses in oral narrative episodes as a device to mark certain utterances that have a cohesive function in relating the episode to the overall purpose of the narrative, facilitating the listener's interpretation of the discourse in a global fashion. (CB)

Tests a model of second-language phonological acquisition that proposes a hierarchical relationship between language-specific transfer processes and universal development processes in terms of chronology and style. This was accomplished through an investigation of the consonant cluster production of four Brazilian learners of English. Claims of…

Four working papers in linguistics are presented. "Basic Configurations of Pragmatic Structuring" (Robert A. Dooley) presents evidence for basic or unmarked pragmatic configurations in three Brazilian languages: Topic-Comment in Mbya Guarani, Comment-Topic in Hixkaryana, and Focus-Presupposition in Xavante. "The Syllable Structure…

Discusses promotion of multicultural child education and literacy learning. Focuses on identity building and language development. Analyzes Brazilian government's "National Curricular References for Child Education." Argues that predominance of a monocultural, cognitive-based approach to child education is detrimental to children whose…

Six working papers in linguistics are presented. "The Semantics and Morphology of Mixtec Mood and Aspect" (J. Albert Bickford and Stephen A. Marlett) presents a relatively detailed description of the following grammatical categories in three Mixtec languages: Santiago Nuyoo, Santo Domingo Nuxaa, and Municipio of Tezoatlan.…

A study of verb agreement and clause structure in Karaja, a Brazilian indigenous language of Macro-Je stock, discusses the subject and object agreement systems with relation to the Feature Specification Constraint. Implementation of the SOV order in Karaja is then analyzed and evidence is presented for the existence of a single functional phrase…

A study analyzed four major classes of discourse marker in Brazilian Portuguese: "ne" and other requests for feedback; "ai," a sequential connector; "ah, bom," and other turn initiators; and "assim," a marker of explanation. Distribution in various discourse functions and sociodemographic conditioning, and…

A study investigated the extent to which native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) of Portuguese understand implicatures in Brazilian television commercials in Portuguese. Subjects were nine Brazilian graduate students and 11 American students of Portuguese at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. Correct inference of the…

Presents a survey of English usage for various communication purposes in different types of Brazilian business organizations. The objectives of the survey are to identify the major uses of business English/Portuguese in international/national settings, to identify the varieties widely used in transactions, and to study the types of documents used…