This paper describes an innovative method for teaching reading comprehension in a second language. The underlying assumption of this method is that a student who reads in his native language does not need to learn a theoretical system of grammar rules in the traditional sense of the term, since he already possesses the ability to recognize words…

A device of emphasis in French syntax is defined as a construction of syntactic paraphrase whose function is to make certain parts of a sentence stand out for purposes of contrast, clarification, differentiation, or because a given element is considered important. These devices exist in French because of the lack of a phonemic stress system, and…

This paper suggests that traditional syntax describes a sentence's syntactic structure, and that verb valence theory describes a sentence's semantic structure. According to this theory, a verb has a certain valence, or power to attract a certain number of "adjuncts." It is further shown that a given semantic structure can be converted into…

Teaching techniques in vocabulary learning have not kept pace with development in other areas of language pedagogy, and yet the large number of words that students must learn demands on approach that will bring order and system into the process of vocabulary acquisition. The solution to this problem is a topical vocabulary checklist in two…

Contrastive analysis is vitally associated with foreign language teaching. A competent bilingual's intuition about the relationship of the forms in the two languages is the most important part of the valid data for analysis. By means of contrastive analysis major grammatical problems for American students learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) noun…

A curriculum is presented as part of a plan for improvinq English language instruction in secondary schools in Nigeria. The current status of English in Nigeria is viewed as ambiguous: the importance of English as a lingua franca and official language is contrasted with the neglect of English instruction and the failure to upgrade language…

The purpose of this paper is to show that: (1) language universals have much to offer to students of contrastive linguistics, and (2) in order to make contrastive analysis more meaningful, one ought to go beyond cataloguing mere contrastive structure statements and capture underlying structural tendencies. Some characteristics of word order in…

In any given context, a Russian verb form may be either perfective or imperfective. Perfective aspect signals the completion or result of an action, whereas imperfective does not. Aspect choice is a function of context, and two types of context are distinguished: deterministic and non-deterministic. This paper is part of a larger study whose aim…

This paper discusses the status of word-final "r" and elongated "es" plural forms in Old Provencal as witnessed in the medieval drama "Lo Jutgamen General." Evidence from rhyming is given for pronunciation in cases where the disappearance of word-final "r" would be feasible but where it is nevertheless…