Predictors of relative clause production in adult second language acquisition were examined through a replication and extension of a study by Schachter (1974). The present study is different in that it was based on oral instead of written production and it was designed to examine avoidance with the consideration that avoidance presupposed choice.…

Two English-speaking six-year-olds attending a French-speaking kindergarten in Montreal were tested for the content of their French L2 (second language) utterances. An adaptation of the mean length of utterance (MLU) index was used to judge the order of acquisition in the encoding of semantic-syntactic relations in the second language. The same…

Three examples are given of cases where differences between Spanish and English syntax and intonation patterns are taught best through direct translation. Grammatical difficulties caused by "gustar" are overcome through the use of translation using "appeal" rather than "please". Similarly, problems for native speakers of English arising with…

This collection of essays includes topics from several areas of linguistics with special attention paid to the issue of language diversity, especially as confronted in the multilingual and multicultural southwestern United States. The first section contains essays on various topics ranging from the value of abstract syntax to "Homophones and the…

In deciding what grammar should be taught, teachers of English as a second language can notice and record common errors (goofs) made by their students. It is possible to expose all types of goofs, state the rules to correct them, acquaint the teacher with the types of goofs made by persons from all over the world, and give them the grammar…

Berlin gymnasium students were found to make errors in English word order traceable to German word order and to "hypercorrectness" in avoiding the latter. A suggested taxonomy of errors is presented. A functional language theory is needed to provide the learner with insight into sources of errors. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Defends the valence theory as being useful in the constrastive aspect of foreign language teaching. Numerous examples are given illustrating how the semantic characteristics of the subject limit the possible choices of verbs that can occur with it. (IFS/WGA)

A contrastive analysis of Spanish word order is presented, first discussed in non-sentence constructions, and then in sentences and sentence-like constructions. A more productive methodology can be obtained in teaching word order through the balanced use of deductive and inductive methods. (NCR)

A Spanish lesson is presented with sections on grammar, vocabulary, and expressions (modismos) with written test exercises and an assigned composition. (Text is in Spanish.) (NCR)

Description of a research project testing the hypothesis that at a given level of language learning the same kinds of errors are made by native and non-native speakers. Conclusions are drawn from the analysis of errors made by native French children and non-French speaking children. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

An inventory of grammatical and lexical units expressing the notion of place in "Le Francais fondamental," Level One. Interrelationships are discussed from the point of view of vocabulary patterns and syntax. There are numerous tables and examples of interrelated verbs, adverbs, nouns, and prepositions. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

This article describes a series of experiments concerning the relationship between cognitive processes and learning a second language. Similarities and differences between first language acquisition and second language learning by children and adults are discussed. (CFM)

Investigates the role of topic-comment structure and the frequency of topic-prominence in the oral interlanguage of Chinese- Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-, Farsi-, and Spanish-speaking adult students of English as a second language. Results indicate that second language learning is generally characterized by an early topic-comment stage, independent…

Presents checklists of the more common grammatical patterns in spoken Mandarin for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students. Most of the patterns include an example with an English gloss. (Author/LMO)

Examines the degree to which Latin words and phrases are integrated into English and American legal texts. Compares introductory and advanced textbooks to legal documents for relative frequency of Latin words and phrases and level of integration into the text. Examples of each level are presented. (Author/LMO)