Comparison of the written stories of 96 learning-disabled and 96 non-learning-disabled students found significant differences at grades 3, 4, and 5 in students' inclusion of a complete story grammar. No differences were found at grade 6. (Author/DB)

Comparison of the effectiveness of inductive versus deductive teaching approaches in helping high school second language (French or Spanish) students (N=319) understand grammatical concepts found no significant differences between the two approaches, dispelling the long-held bias against inductive methods.(CB)

Argues that if the study of language is to become important again in the teaching of writing, it will be through an expanded notion of rhetoric that understands language as the site of struggle over socially produced meaning. (RAE)

Reflects on the interrelationship between expression and mechanics in writing instruction. (MM)

Variability has been the subject of recent debate in the study of learner interlanguage. Empirical evidence from a longitudinal study suggests that learning follows a systematic route. A grammaticality judgment test is appended. (Contains 19 references.) (Author/LB)

Examines evidence relevant to the determination of the configurational/nonconfigurational character of clause structure in Modern Greek. The analysis is developed within a framework that accounts for nominative assignment in the context of predication theory. An explanation for the fact that SVO is a routine alternative in Greek is provided. (46…

Attempts to model the human production of language under time constraints based on an analysis of hesitation and spontaneous self-repair in a corpus of spoken human dialogs. The model used divides language production into conceptualization of the message to be conveyed, formulation of words and grammatical structure for the message, and…

Didascalia, a Belgian research group, has developed Verbochip, a computer program dealing with the formation and contextual uses of English tenses, based on the principle of external versatility. The content base includes various fields with information that allows the content to be implemented in a selection system that fits the user's own…

Paper discusses the pros and cons of college students using the first person singular pronoun in writing and discussion, emphasizing the need to find a balance between the use of the words "I" and "they" and to teach students critical reflection, analysis, sharing, and listening skills. (SM)

Suggests that reading is a powerful source in acquiring language competence. The author argues that children do not enjoy grammar instruction, but love to hear stories and read books that they select on their own. Given the lack of clear evidence for focusing on form, it is concluded that free reading should be an option for immersion children.…

The grammars of natural languages may be learned by using genetic algorithm systems such as LUST (Linguistics Using Sexual Techniques) that reproduce and mutate grammatical rules and parts-of-speech tags. In document retrieval or filtering systems, applying tags to the list of terms representing a document provides additional information about…

Variations in the use of perfect "have" and its alternatives in the Trinidadian creole continuum are examined, based on data from a sample of speakers from different social backgrounds. The findings have implications for the study of morphosyntactic variation in other divergent dialect situations. (Contains 56 references.) (Author/LB)

A study with 18 deaf high school students found that skills that actually contribute to reading proficiency included use of prior text information, prior knowledge, reading speed and consistency, use of active memory for function words and inflections, and correct processing of relative clauses and the passive voice. Instructional implications are…

Two practicing English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL teachers respond to Rod Ellis' January 1993 article in "ELT Journal," which discussed importance of grammar instruction in EFL classrooms. Argues some of Ellis' assumptions about current classroom practices are inaccurate and a number of his "alternative" approaches to teaching grammar, such as…

An exploratory study of six undergraduates under laboratory conditions aimed to clarify the role of explicit teaching of different kinds of second-language grammar rules. In this look at methodology, one hypothesis was supported: that explicit and deductive learning is better than implicit for simple categorical rules. (Contains 24 references.)…