This paper examines the acquisition of demonstratives (e.g., "that," "there") from a cross-linguistic perspective. Although demonstratives are often said to play a crucial role in L1 acquisition, there is little systematic research on this topic. Using extensive corpus data of spontaneous child speech, the paper investigates…

In reply to criticism from Wolfgang Butzkamm the author defends the desirability and necessity of foreign language instruction, French in particular, in the German educational system. Suggestions for improving the present modern language curriculum are made. (Text is in German.) (TL)