Provides an analysis, based on theory-independent structural information, of the structure of postadverbials associated with the Mandarin morpheme "de," arguing that "de" does not stand for a unique morpheme, but for three homophonous ones. (24 references) (CB)

An analysis of two textbook series commonly used to teach university-level Chinese identifies obsolete conventions, expressions, and classifiers and other problems in the series, published over 20 years ago, and suggests some updated supplementary materials that could be used with the series. (CB)

Among both first- and second-generation immigrant groups in New Zealand and Australia, women maintain the ethnic language (EL) longer than men. Compared with men's networks, women's networks encourage more extensive use of EL in social interactions, and women value the social and affective functions expressed by EL. (Contains 71 references.…

Developing academic, or school-based, literacy poses a significant challenge for many students, because the language through which academic subjects are presented is markedly different from the social language that students use in everyday ordinary life. This article focuses on one aspect of academic language, the functions of nouns and nominal…

This contribution investigates the frequency patterns of the modal verbs as they occur in the one-million-word corpus of Cameroon written English. An analysis of dominant senses of some of the modals is also attempted. I have used results and statistical figures from British and American English (as reported in studies such as Biber et al. 1999…

There have been few Australian studies of language maintenance amongst immigrant languages from the Indian subcontinent. The present study focuses on Tamil speakers in Melbourne from Sri Lanka or India, who are Hindus or Christians. Tamil is a pluricentric language that has been under the domination of English in these countries, at least amongst…

Instead of being completely arbitrary, the meaning of many idioms is "motivated" by their original, literal usage. In an FLT context, this offers the possibility of presenting idioms in ways that promote insightful learning rather than "blind" memorization. Associating an idiom with its etymology has been shown to enhance retention. This effect…

A study investigated 42 native English-speakers' (NSs) perceptions of the pragmatic appropriateness of refusal statements. The NSs rated the appropriateness of 24 written statements in 4 different refusal scenarios, which were collected from both native speakers and non-native speakers. Four weeks later, as a reliability check, the subjects rated…

Claiming that understanding the social context in which words are formed is necessary to appreciate the richness and vitality of language, this book presents an informal, discursive examination of how and why American speech came to be the way it is, and in particular where the words came from. The book follows a roughly chronological format from…

The study examines origins of the usage patterns of "be" forms (conjugated and invariant forms of the copula) in Black English as they developed over a period of about 30 years. The corpus studied consists of selected interviews from a collection of recordings about Hoodoo, conjuration, witchcraft, and rootwork made by a white priest with almost…

This discussion of the speech act of thanking looks at the basic functions of the act and responses to it in American English. It is argued that in general, "thank you" expressions are used to express appreciation of benefits and to enhance rapport between interlocutors, and that this basic use is extended to the functions of conversational…

A study investigated patterns of usage of "can" and "may" (e.g., "May/Can I go to the bathroom?") among native speakers and non-native speakers of English. A questionnaire was administered to 25 native English-speakers, most aged 19-26 and the remainder over age 45, and 56 non-native speakers taking advanced…

The starting point of this thesis is the hypothesis that in Spanish there are conventionalized expressions that signal both the articulation of text parts and the speaker's attitude towards the utterance. "Pragmatic Expressions" (PEs) are fixed lexical forms that contribute to text creation in relation to the context of enunciation, are oriented…

Contrary to the pattern of many changes in French usage, the gradual loss of "ne" follows a continum from speakers who always omit it to those who never do, and considerable divergence may be shown in familiar versus formal language. Qualitative and quantitative perspectives are examined. (Text is in French.) (Author/MSE)

Analyzing word frequency in six complete texts, a study investigated how vocabulary can be used to define texts. The texts included three stories from 5th and 6th grade readers, selections from literature anthologies for 8th grade and 12th grade students, and a magazine essay for adults. Results indicated that if particular words occur frequently…