We report on object and action picture-naming accuracy in two groups of bilectal speakers in Cyprus, children with typical language development (TLD) and children with specific language impairment (SLI). Object names were overall better retrieved than action names by both groups. Given that comprehension for action names was relatively intact for…

The Critical Period Hypothesis aims to investigate the reason for significant difference between first language acquisition and second language acquisition. Over the past few decades, researchers carried out a series of studies to test the validity of the hypothesis. Although there were certain limitations in these studies, most of their results…

This dissertation studies the acquisition of verb argument structure in the basilectal subvariety of Jakarta Indonesian (henceforth, bJI). There are two characteristics of bJI that potentially affect the acquisition of verb argument structure. First, bJI sentences can surface not only in the full frame but also in truncated frames. Second, the…

This book examines children's acquisition of a first language, the stages they go through, and how they use language as they learn. There are 16 chapters in 4 parts. After chapter 1, "Acquiring Languages: Issues and Questions," Part 1, "Getting Started," offers (2) "In Conversation with Children," (3) "Starting…

Discusses the current debate over bi-dialectalism, proposing that we use dialects as a means of teaching language to everyone. (RB)

This book defines the concept of language; examines what pupils do when they learn, recall, and transfer information; and explains how cognitive processes and language processes differ during various maturational levels and among various experiential settings. Subjects dealt with include: four models by which language can be studied; the elements…

The structure, complexity, and peculiarities of the English language are examined in this book, which begins with a discussion of the nature of language. Chapters are devoted to (1) naming--"Language as Answer to a Need"; (2) grammar--"Language as Economy"; (3) words--"Language as the Finding of Minds"; (4) etymology--"Language to Stretch Brains…

The language a child learns from and attends to is the speech of significant persons in his world, addressed to each other and to him. As the child gradually participates in this social interaction he learns communicative competence, i.e., the nonconscious, tacit knowledge that underlies speech behavior--knowledge of both the language and the…

Concepts advanced by grammarians, linguistic historians, dialectologists, psycholinguists, lexicographers, semanticists, and phonologists, together with new approaches to reading, spelling, and literature, can help the teacher make the English program more stimulating for children. For instance, discoveries made by psycholinguists have attested to…

This collection of papers is divided into four sections. Section 1, "Historical Linguistics," includes "The Grammaticalization of Non-Dative Reflexes of Latin ill- in Spanish" (Jose R. Carrasquel) and "'Esto es Ligero de Fazer': Object to Subject Raising in Medieval and Early Modern Spanish" (Mark Davies). Section 2, "Language Acquisition and…

These issues include the following articles: "Portuguese Philology in Brazil" (Heitor Megale, Cesar Nardelli Cambraia); "Implications of Brazilian Portuguese Data for Current Controversies in Phonetics: Towards Sharpening Articulatory Phonology" (Eleonora Cavalconte Albano); "Morphological Studies in Brazil: Data and…

This volume is a collection of articles which are concerned with the field of applied linguistics. Part One, "Language and Linguistics," includes two articles: "Language" and "The Relevance of Linguistics." Part Two, "Linguistics and Spelling," consists of one article, "Sounds and Spellings; Spellings and Sounds." Part Three, "Linguistics and…

Fifty-three papers on linguistic theory and language research, including a number of prize-winning essays, address these topics: aspects of discourse analysis; bilingualism; Chinese modal verbs; early bilingual speech; linguistic metatheory; music and accent discrepancy; diphthongs; hiatus; vowel patterns; suprasegmentals; neologisms; aspects of…

The ways that students can learn about the nature of the English language and develop a sense of excitement about their language are explored in this focused journal issue. The titles of the essays and their authors are as follows: (1) "Language, the Forgotten Content" (R. Small and P. P. Kelly); (2) "What Should English Teachers…