Following an experiment which revealed that production of grammatically correct sentences and correction of grammatically problematic sentences in French are essentially different skills, a progressive training method for finding and correcting grammatical errors was developed. (MSE)

Results from an English acceptability-rating experiment are presented that demonstrate that people find doubly nested relative-clause structures just as acceptable when only two verb phrases are included instead of the grammatically required three. Three possible accounts of the results are considered. (Author/VWL)

Appropriate uses of "des" and "les" in the description of individuals' physical attributes are outlined according to a grammatical model of sentence structure. Several examples of each usage are provided. (MSE)

Language-disordered (N=30) and linguistically-normal (N=30) first- through third-graders judged the grammatical acceptability of sentences (and attempted to correct those they judged ungrammatical). Results indicated that the judgment task was capable of effectively separating language-disordered and linguistically-normal children at specific age…

Designed to be a resource for the myriad K-12 teachers who wonder what to do about grammar--how to teach it, how to apply it, how to learn what they themselves were never taught---this book offers an informal, hands-on approach to grammar in the classroom. The book presents teachers with ways to negotiate the often conflicting goals of testing,…

Presents analyses of the use of the essential connectives "so,""because,""then," and "but" in narratives of children aged three to nine years. Connectives were used semantically, pragmatically, or, rarely, in error. Age changes were minimal. Structural complexity and elaboration improved throughout the…

Investigates the acquisition of verb movement phenomena in the interlanguage of English native speakers learning French as a second language. Participants were given a grammaticality judgment task and production task. French native speakers' results go against certain theoretical predictions of negation and adverb placement in nonfinite contexts,…

This paper examines the claim that German-language syntax is undergoing a process of restructuring that will eliminate verb final position in sentences, resulting in a very English-style linear sentence structure. One particular structure is examined in interviews with 30 adults and 10 children: the finite verb in subordinate clauses that is…

Since its inception, proponents of Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar (GPSG) have claimed the superiority of the analyses that the theory makes available for certain problematic constructions in English. Two examples of such constructions are (1) rightward unbounded dependencies (including right node raising) and (2) parasitic gaps. However, as…

Examines the influence of a proposed implicational hierarchy and constraints of Universal Grammar on acquisition of noun incorporation processes by 29 adult learners of Samoan, compared to the performance of a control group of 11 native Samoan speakers. Methodology involved reaction time, grammaticality judgment, and response certainty measures.…

An auditory comprehension task was used to determine the ways in which first and fifth graders and adults use topic continuity and contrastive emphasis in the assignment of referents for pronouns in sentences. The finding of significant differences in performance for emphasized and unemphasized pronouns suggests that subjects use constrastive…

Native Spanish early and late acquirers of English and Vietnamese early and child acquirers of English made grammaticality judgments of sentences in their second language. Native acquirers of English were not distinguishable from native English speakers, whereas native Spanish late acquirers had difficulty with all aspects of the grammar tested…

Eighteen fourth grade students and twenty sixth grade students participated in a study to determine if there was a significant difference in the quality of written composition among students exposed to the peer editing process as opposed to those exposed to teacher editing. The control group consisted of 8 fourth grade students and 10 sixth grade…

The report describes improved algorithms within a computer program for identifying spelling and word order errors in student responses. A "markup analysis" compares a student's response string to an author-specified model string and generates a graphical error markup that indicates spelling, capitalization, and accent errors, extra or…

Investigates the contribution of markedness and learning principles to second language (L2)acquisition. Korean language learners of English completed a written sentence-combining task and a written grammaticality judgment task. Results show subjects acquire English relative clauses in the same order and suggests that L2 learners have dual access…