Research into the formulaic nature of language has grown in size and scale in the last 20 years or more, much of it based in corpus studies and involving the identification and categorisation of formulas. Research suggests that there are benefits for second and foreign language learners recognising formulaic sequences when listening and reading,…

Research suggests that nonlinguistic sequence learning abilities are an important contributor to language development (Conway, Bauernschmidt, Huang, & Pisoni, 2010). The current study investigated visual sequence learning (VSL) as a possible predictor of vocabulary development in infants. Fifty-eight 8.5-month-old infants were presented with a…

THIS RESEARCH EXAMINED THE WAYS SUBJECTS USE SUCH A STRUCTURAL DEVICE AS GRAMMAR IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO RECALL OR PRODUCE BEHAVIOR SEQUENCES IN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION. RESEARCH TECHNIQUES TO STUDY THE BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF THE UTILIZATION OF RULES IN THE GENERATION OF LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR WERE DEVELOPED. THESE TECHNIQUES WERE THEN USED TO STUDY THE…

This article examines alternating verbs (such as "quemar"(se) "to burn") in second language (L2) Spanish by considering the learnability problem from a sequence learning perspective (N. Ellis, 1996, 2002). In Spanish, verbs of the alternating class are obligatorily marked with the clitic "se" in their intransitive form. Errors of omission among…

Learning activities that are associated with programed materials can be applied to learning from ordinary text; in fact, there is no essential difference between programed and ordinary text. Active response so important to programed learning can be controlled in textual materials by carefully defined adjunct aids such as word lists, underlining,…

The purpose of this study was to compare the Gilbertian mathetical sequence (MS) with the Skinnerian logical sequence (LS) methodologies in their effectiveness for language teaching. A series of 3 experiments were designed to investigate the effect of MS and LS on the teaching of Japanese Kanji characters to 24 Japanese fifth-graders. The students…

To address the notion that the cognitive level of young children influences their ability to recall the logical sequence found in stories, four modes of language--story generation, retelling, dictation, and writing--were collected for three weeks from 35 second grade children. Through prior testing with the Goldschmid-Bentler Concept Assessment…

ALTHOUGH ADMINISTRATIVE DIFFICULTIES COMPELLED A 2-PHASED PROJECT, BEGUN AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY IN THE 1966-67 ACADEMIC YEAR, TO BE TERMINATED BEFORE ANY CONCLUSIVE DATA HAD BEEN GATHERED, SOME OF THE OBSERVATIONS MADE DURING THE INITIAL STAGE OF THE EXPERIMENT MIGHT PROVOKE NEEDED FURTHER INVESTIGATION. THE PILOT RUN, DESIGNED TO DEVELOP MATERIALS…

This newsletter contains five articles. The first, "Discourse Structure in Reading," by Ron Shook, suggests that reading materials for the beginning ESL (English as a second language) reader often have three defects: (1) profusion of detail as question fodder; (2) an oversimplified syntax; and (3) an artificial construction that violates…

THE SIX REPORTS OF THE WORKING COMMITTEES OF THE 1958 NORTHEAST CONFERENCE ON THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES EMPHASIZE, FROM THE TEACHER'S POINT OF VIEW, VARIOUS PROBLEMS CONFRONTING THE PROFESSION. THE REPORT PREPARED BY MARGARET E. EATON AND HER COMMITTEE ON CONTINUITY IN THE LANGUAGE CURRICULUM, GRADES 3 TO 12, RECOMMENDS A STUDY TIME…