Most studies on task-based language learning focus on the oral performance of advanced level learners of English as a second language (ESL), while little research examines the written performance of beginning language learners in non-ESL contexts. This exploratory study aims to address this gap, by examining the effect of pre-writing tasks on…

The research project reported in this chapter consists of three studies in which syntactic complexity, lexical variation and fluency appear as dependent variables. The independent variables are task complexity and proficiency level, as the three studies investigate the effect of task complexity on the written and oral performance of L2 learners of…

Special issue devoted to research and the teaching of French in the elementary school. (VM)

Patients with cortical lesions, both with or without aphasia, were asked to reconstruct sentences. It was found that syntactic comprehension deficits exist only in aphasics. Two groups are distinguishable, those with deficits due to problems of repetition and those with deficits due to problems of object recognition. (Text is in French.) (TL)

This study is an attempt to investigate the efficacy of using existing semantic relations categories for understanding how children comprehend the verb "with" + noun construction. (Author)

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)

Criticism of much of the previous research into the syntax of children's language. (RD)

Examines the relationship between language acquisition and current linguistic theory, with specific reference to Chomsky's work. Linguistic areas that should be explored in relation to acquisition are suggested, including regional dialect studies, the place of sociolinguistic factors in acquisition, and syntax. Suggestions as to how to analyze…

This paper is part of a current dissertation project exploring the relationships between constructs in linguistic theory and pattern of language behavior in aphasic adults. The author feels that linguists have done little enough work in the area of speech pathology yet they have discussed at length the distinction between competence and…

Investigates the effects of two kindergarten programs, social class, and sex upon children's oral syntactic facility. (Author)

Revised version of an article which appeared in the June 71 Bulletin" of the Centre de Recherche de l'Education Specialisee et de l'Adaptation Scolaire. (VM)

Following a review of the attempts of researchers like Walter Loban, Kellogg Hunt, Roy O'Donnell, Raymond Norris, and William Griffin to measure the syntactic complexity of the language of school-age children, several inferences are made in this study about the assumptions these investigators have made about the nature of language and of the…