The earliest stages of adult language acquisition have received increased attention in recent years (cf. Carroll, introduction to this issue). The study reported here aims to contribute to this discussion by investigating the role of several variables in the development of word recognition strategies during the very first hours of exposure to a…

Relatively recently, experimental studies of linguistic processing speed in children who stutter (CWS) have emerged, some of which suggest differences in performance among CWS compared to children who do not stutter (CWNS). What is not yet well understood is the extent to which underlying cognitive skills may impact performance on timed tasks of…

The 2001 reauthorization of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)," represented a turning point in federal policy for the education of English Learners (ELs) in U.S. public schools. At the center of the changes in the 2001 reauthorization of the "ESEA" lie the English language proficiency (ELP) standards. These ELP…

To what extent does language acquisition recruit domain-general processing mechanisms? In this dissertation, evidence concerning this question is garnered from the study of individual differences in infant speech perception and their predictive value with respect to language development in early childhood. In the first experiment, variation in the…

The results of this study indicate that the voiceless fricatives, /S/ and /Sh/, are reduced in intensity when spoken in a whispered vowel environment. In addition females may produce relatively weaker fricative intensity and intra-oral pressure. (Author)

The instability of several elements of the French vocalic system requires that instructors make phonetic distinctions early on about the phonemes, often grouped under an archiphoneme, which may be realized differently in speech. /E/ and /EU/ are given as examples. (Text is in French.) (MSE)

Examines the relationship of phonological characteristics of children's imitative utterances to the characteristics of spontaneous utterances in early stage I. The findings indicated that, while these imitative utterances were subject to the same production constraints, they were not subject to the same selection and avoidance rules operative in…

Proposes that phonological development involves the three fundamental processes of perception, organization and production. Acquisition proceeds by the suppression of natural phonological processes in a systematic fashion. Processes slide through a child's system, appearing first as constraints on perception, and later on organization and…

The normal" six-year old has control of all aspects of his language when he begins attending school. The teacher must expand these skills. (MF)

In dealing with the differences between the school and non-school language of Black children, the author uses a contingency grammar," which considers all speakers of a language to have the identical linguistics competence but includes a level of systematic performance" to account for dialectal and other systematic differences. (FB)

This paper reports on experiments conducted to demonstrate that segmental duration in English is syntactically determined in a connected discourse. The methodology for investigation is outlined. Various factors influencing duration, such as semantics, syntax, rhythm, intonation and lexical stress are discussed. (Author/CLK)

Purpose: The authors' purpose was to explore the nature of the link between hearing loss (HL) and language impairment in adolescents with mild-to-moderate hearing loss (MMHL). Does language performance (generally or in certain areas) normalize at adolescence? Method: The language skills of 19 French-speaking adolescents (ages 11-15) with moderate…