The existence of a developmental sequence for the acquisition of specific complex syntactic structures in English was investigated through an analysis of eight studies of Danish subjects. The studies involved Danish speaking subjects acquiring English as a second language at ages 7-10, 13, and 18. The evidence from these studies demonstrate a…

The criteria employed in most textbooks to differentiate "ser" and "estar" followed by an adjective are mainly semantic. Most exercises offer to second language learners too high a proportion of "estar" usages, a practice that leads to overgeneralization with regard to the use of "estar." An experiment was…

In the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" appear periodically the so-called "Filser Letters," in which current topics are presented in incorrect English, reflecting German structure and vocabulary. These might be used in Secondary Grade II, from a contrastive point of view. A sample "Filserbrief" is presented. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

This article discusses the ordering of semantic units such as nouns and verbs in Chinese sentences, with references to problems encountered by students of Chinese. (CLK)

Discusses several objections to Krashen's Input Hypothesis which states that language acquisition is the learners' understanding of a language at a stage slightly higher than their current one because of their understanding of extralinguistic cues of the language. (Author/LMO)

Describes a comparative study of interrogative words in Spanish and English, which resulted in a series of hypotheses about the way Spanish speakers convey the interrogative how plus adjective or adverb. To test the hypotheses, surveys were conducted with native Spanish speakers. Surveys and results are discussed. (AMH)

An error analysis was made of 26 essays written by English-speaking honor students in their first year of university German. Results illustrate the relative frequency of errors occurring in the sample, together with some possible explanations for certain types of errors. (SED)

Investigates the influence of time pressure and focus of attention on the correct use of two Dutch word order rules in the speech of 32 adult learners of the language. The relation between explicitness of rule knowledge, assessed in an interview, and rule application, elicited in the experiment, is also discussed. (EKN)

Underlines the importance of semantic, situational, and phonological factors such as intonation in the teaching of French as a second language. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

The findings of this study indicate that developmental stages in the acquisition of written German did exist and that these stages were most clearly definable between every other level. (RC)

Discusses the semantics and structure of sentence adverbs, with particular reference to negation of the declarative sentence. "Nicht" is found to be not properly reckoned with sentence adverbs. By means of examples, suggestions are given about teaching foreigners the use of German adverbs. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Describes a study of "analogy" and "interference" errors in the syntax of second language learners. (Author/RM)

This article considers a mechanism of the linguistic change that occurs at the grammatical- and lexical-functioning levels. The linguistic phenomenon that stem from these mechanisms can be seen in the socio-linguistic macro context of the autonomization and vehicularization of the speech. This article examines the development of the…

Revised version of a paper presented at the 17th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Liege, Belgium, July 1971. (DD)