A fundamental question in psycholinguistic research concerns the universality of comprehension strategies. We investigated this issue by examining the so-called "subject preference" in Turkish, a language which allows for a natural (unmarked) object reading of an initial ambiguous argument. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we observed…

This article discusses the implications of "multicompetence" (Cook, 1991), defined as an individual's knowledge of more than one language, for language assessment. The growing psycholinguistic evidence highlighting variability in native speaker performance as a result of multicompetence is reviewed, evidence that further questions the validity of…

Globalization and transformations in nation-state structures require developing a new social-political language that would allow a peaceful coexistence for various identities and interests. This entails revising the link between local histories and the "universal." Education can play a crucial role for developing this language. This…

Mother tongue is the language that a person learns in the society he/she lives especially from his/her mother by imitating herself which begins from the period of infancy and also mother tongue is the language that he/she expresses him/herself best. Vardar (1980:20) defines mother tongue as, "[Mother tongue] is the language which is learned for…

The use of one body-part term in Turkish, corresponding to the English "head," is examined. It is demonstrated that this term is the most unmarked body-part term in the language with the largest functional load in common usage. It is found to have a large number of derivations, especially with socially deictic meanings. Possible…

Describes a new data compression technique that utilizes the common morphological structure of languages. Topics include classification of languages and their morphological structure; structured text compression; the algorithm and an example using Turkish; theoretical implications; and implementation. (LRW)

Introduces the topic of this special issue of the journal--linguistic construction and negotiation of social relations among bilingual Turkish-speaking adolescents in North-western Europe. The studies included focus on Turkish-German bilinguals and the Koge project in Denmark, a longitudinal study of bilingual development among Turkish Danes.…

Script reform, the modification of an existing writing system, is often confused with script replacement of one writing system with another. Turkish underwent the replacement of Arabic script by an adaptation of Roman script under Kamel Ataturk, but a similar replacement in Persian was rejected because of the high rate of existing literacy in…

Explores the usefulness of a typology of contact mechanisms for one type of contact setting: that of a typical immigrant language, in this case the variety of Turkish that is spoken in the Netherlands. Examines the relevance of insertional code switching to the genesis of mixed languages--Dutch and Turkish. (Author/VWL)

States that, for more than four centuries, Cyprus has employed both Turkish and Greek as its two main languages. Suggests that the island's lack of policies regarding bilingualism has weakened relations between these two cultural groups, and that the introduction of English makes their assimilation even more difficult. (Contains 19 references.)…

Advocates national policy of multiculturalism and multilingualism, acquired through cohesive use of a common language (English) spoken by all Australians, yet retaining and incorporating the more than 20 major languages presently in use. Suggests provisions for efficient teaching of English and encouragement of all other community languages,…