The studies presented here represent an attempt to determine which of several alterations to the input directed to second-language learners affect comprehensibility. The first study manipulated both speed and syntax, and the second study examined the introduction of pauses into the input. (JL)

Sixty-two quantitative, lexical, and syntactic features in a corpus of 160 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) texts were identified and counted, producing 28 text variables that were compared with ESL proficiency levels of the writers. Results suggest pedagogical implications for ESL composition instructors. (Contains 12 references.) (LB)

Urges the combination of grammatical instruction with pragmatic spoken usage in the teaching of language. (LG)

Paper prepared with the support of the Defense Language Institute English Language School, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas under contract F41609-70-C0033, and delivered in 1970 to staff members of the DLIELS. (DS)

Urging that the structure of written English must be approached systematically if good readers are to be produced, the author describes a transformationally oriented technique designed to introduce advanced students to the structure of educated written English. Examples of materials are included. (Author/FB)

Using a qualitative discourse-analytic framework, this paper compares the planned spoken English of a native speaker of Chinese, whose English discourse was perceived to be hard to follow, with a native speaker of U.S. English. Differences in the use of lexical discourse markers, lexical specificity, and syntactic incorporation are discussed. (34…

The technique explained here can increase a foreign student's awareness of English grammatical and rhetorical structures. Structural paraphrase is a syntactic reformulation of difficult phrases with minimal vocabulary changes. The technique is illustrated and suggestions are given for class presentation. (CHK)

Presents study designed to examine trait structure of a cloze test using confirmatory factor analysis. Results suggest that a modified cloze passage, using rational deletions, is capable of measuring syntactic- and discourse-level relationships in a text, and this advantage may outweigh considerations of reduced redundancy which underlie random…

Examines the relationship between language universals and language acquisition, comparing data from studies on first and second language acquisition and universals of relative clause formation. It is concluded that second language acquisition data provide a clearer window for the investigation and verification of language universals than first…

In a survey, 130 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students were asked to describe the meanings of English tenses in terms of time concepts used in ESL grammar texts. Results suggest that grammar teaching utilizing descriptions of time accepted in English-speaking communities to explain usages and meanings of English tenses can limit learner…

This study examined the sensitivity of adult second language learners to deviance in English sentences. The subjects were 18 Egyptian, Arabic-speaking students attending classes at the English Language Institute of the American University in Cairo. (Author/CFM)

In university level English as a second language classes, massive vocabulary instruction should begin as soon as possible and the status of lexical knowledge should be given greater emphasis. Traditional views in favor of emphasizing the teaching of syntactic structures are challenged. (SW)

Paper presented at the 1972 TESOL Conference in Washington, D.C. (DD)

Paper presented at the TESOL Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 1971. (VM)