The present study looks at the levels of activation of different languages a trilingual language user operates in at the moment of text construction in one of these languages. Forty-eight Portuguese advanced users of English (L2) and intermediate in German (L3) were asked to perform a translation task. The subjects were divided into two subgroups:…

This digest presents eight principles drawn from theory and research on second language acquisition and culturally sensitive instruction to guide teachers who work with linguistically and culturally diverse students. Each principle is accompanied by a brief explanation and suggestions for classroom techniques and activities. They are: (1)…

This study investigated factors facilitating acquisition of Irish in Irish-medium playgroups designed for children who are native English-speakers. Data were gathered in four visits each to two such playgroups, each containing approximately 20 children. Four aspects of conversational exchanges were examined: understanding; code mixing; formulaic…

This issue includes the following articles: "On Negative Alternative Questions" (Chung-hye Han); "A Categorical Syntax for Verbs of Perception" (Robin Clark, Gerhard Jager); "Defective Complements in Tree Adjoining Grammar" (Seth Kulick, Robert Frank, K. Vijayshanker); "The Convergence of Lexicalist Perspectives…

In an attempt to teach empathy and language awareness to her middle school students when a limited-English-proficient student entered her class, a teacher conducted an experiment in which she began each class in French. Student bewilderment became appreciation, and a class discussion of foreign language learning ensued. The students unanimously…

This compilation of articles deals with practical questions of bilingualism that appear to be important to the development of education in Britain. The conference for which the papers were originally prepared concentrated on three general aspects: the existence of many thousands of bilingual children in Britain whose native languages are largely…

Children from the German minority in Denmark were studied as part of a longitudinal sociolinguistic research project. Most spoke the Jutland (a Danish) dialect and picked up German as a second language when they started preschool, resulting in code-switching and interference in some cases, which appear to be manifestations of linguistic creativity…

This book examines changes in the first language (L1) of people who know a second language (L2), seeing L2 users as people who differ from the monolingual in both first and second languages. It describes a range of psychological and linguistic approaches. The 13 chapters include the following: (1) "Introduction: The Changing L1 in the L2…

This study investigated learning vocabulary in group work at university in Vietnam. The students were studied in two kinds of group settings, "unassisted" and "assisted", the first consisting of five students from the same class level and the second of four from the same class and a student from a higher class. Differences were…

This book is a comprehensive introduction for all professionals working with bilingual children. For speech therapists, physicians, psychologists, counselors, teachers, special needs personnel, and many others, this book addresses the most important issues at a practical level. It is written in simple, nontechnical terms accessible to the layman…

This guide, written in a question-and-answer format, provides basic information on bilingualism and raises practical issues in plain, clear, and direct language. It is written for both monolingual speakers who want to consider bilingualism and bilingual speakers who want to become better informed. Many of the ideas and perceptions in the first…

This issue contains the following articles: "The Pragmatics of Wh-Question Intonation in English" (Christine Bartels); "The Nature of Object Agreement in Hungarian" (Huba Bartos); "Voah Mei Daett Sei Deitsh: Developments in the Vowel System of Pennsylvania German" (David Bowie); "Event Time Properties"…

A naturalistic study looked at the acquisition of English by two Japanese boys, aged 4 and 8 years, during a 2.5-year stay in the United States. Data were collected through observation and transcription of spontaneous speech in daily life. Analysis included a variety of features of language use and of the acquisition process, including attitudes…

Articles on speech and second language learning include: "Les sequences de correction en classe de langue seconde: evitement du 'non' explicite" ("Error Correction Sequences in Second Language Class: Avoidance of the Explicit 'No'") (Anne-Lise de Bosset); "Analyse hierarchique et fonctionnelle du discours: conversations…

An ongoing longitudinal study, 15 years old at the time of publication, is reported. It is a sociolinguistic, developmental study of the acquisition of two languages, Spanish and English, by a boy from birth, with data drawn from direct observation and occasional tape recordings of speech. An introductory chapter outlines the objectives and method…