Language is a systematic means of communication that employs sound or conventional symbols. Using a foreign language can be problematic when attempting to communicate or translate written or spoken language from one's native language due to structural differences between languages. Among the most widely spoken languages in the world, English is…

This article focuses on the syntactic level of the grammar of Saudi Arabian Sign Language by exploring some word orders that occur in personal narratives in the language. Word order is one of the main ways in which languages indicate the main syntactic roles of subjects, verbs, and objects; others are verbal agreement and nominal case morphology.…

For the recent discussions on the status of English in the global context and its implication for English language teaching (Canagarajah, 2006; Jenkins, 2003, 2005, 2006a, 2006b; Kachru, 1985, 1991, 1992a, 1992b; Modiano, 1999a, 1999b; Rajagopalan, 2004), some ELT researchers (Lee, 2007; Park, 2006, 2007) have conducted a full-scaled documentation…

Literature on relational reasoning mainly focuses on the performance question. It is typically argued that problem difficulty relies on the number of ''mental models'' compatible with the problem. However, no study has ever investigated the wording of conclusions that participants formulate. In the present work, we analyze the relational terms…

Locative inversion, one aspect of word order in English discourse in which the positions of verb and noun phrase are inverted (e.g., "in front of the house is a tree"), is examined. It is argued that inversions after deictic adverbs and those after non-deictic, locative constituents are related, both representing devices: (1) expressing point of…

This article explores the attribution of linguistic resources to multilingual students in a primary school in the Netherlands. Drawing on an ethnographic study of a regular, multicultural classroom, it describes patterns of attribution emerging from observations of classroom activities and interviews with the teacher. Its focus is on the…

Two papers on linguistic theory are presented. The first examines the relationship between two subsystems of Danish grammar: (1) the morphology and meaning of the two passives (a morphological passive and a periphrastic passive); and (2) the word order rules and meanings attached to indefinite subjects, irrespective of voice. It is claimed that…

An alternative account of the Old English verb-complement word order and the change from OV to VO is offered, based on an analysis of 16 Old English texts. Evidence is provided that the change does not involve abrupt reanalysis but rather synchronic competition between two grammars, beginning in the Old English period and continuing into Middle…

Background: Persian English learners committed mistakes and errors which were due to insufficient knowledge of different senses of the words and collocational structures they formed. Purpose: The study reported here was conducted for a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for The Master of Arts degree, School of Graduate…