Describes two grammaticality judgment tasks--one in French and one in English--developed based on differences between the two languages vis-a-vis middle constructions. The tasks were administered to Anglopone and Francophone advanced and very advanced learners of their second language, and to unilingual groups with the same first languages.…

Argues that functional categories instantiated in the learners' first language (L1) transfer to the initial state of second language syntactic development. On the basis of Zulu interlanguage data on acquisition of the obligatory declarative complementizer "ukuthi" (that) by English native speakers, argues that Comp contains a null…

Addresses the morphosyntactic development of two bilingual children and the issues raised by the controversy between the single system and the separate development hypotheses. Set within a generative grammar framework, evidence on German/English and Latvian/English is presented from the earliest stages of language development. (Author/VWL)

Investigates how and what properties of abstract lexical entries in the mental lexicon interact with the distribution of surface morphemes in language contact or first language attrition. Data from Hungarian/English bilingual children provide evidence that asymmetries in the production of Hungarian preverbs and case suffixes may be explained by…

Describes an exercise in lexical analysis, involving verbs of sound in English and Spanish. The aim of the exercise is to enable students to discover underlying patterns of meaning that are representative of lexical-conceptual structure. (Author/VL)

Discusses selected theories of second-language acquisition and their implications for developing a computer-assisted language-learning tool for learners of German,"Textana." Textana was planned as a generic text production tool to provide help to learners in outlining, editing, and postediting texts in German as a foreign language. (Author/VWL)

Examines the behavior of the morpheme, um, in Toba Batak and Tagalog, which alternates as a prefix or an infix, arguing that the variation is conditioned by constraints on consonant clusters. Three patterns of variation that occur with um are described, noting that the stages involved in changing from infixed to prefixed positions over time are…

Explores the criterion-related validity of the Swedish version of the Communicative Development Inventories--Words & Sentences (SECDI-W&S). In two follow-up procedures, SECDI-W&S was used to assess vocabulary and grammar skills in 32 children. Overall results confirm that the criterion-related validity of the SECDI is sound. (Author/VWL)

Explains how revising patient-education materials provided for undergraduate technical communication students a review and reinforcement of principles they had studied all semester, such as accessible organization of information, audience analysis, use of formatting and graphics to enhance communication, and clear sentence structure and diction.…

Various commentaries are included in response to an article on filler syllables and their status in emerging grammar. (Author/VWL)

Proposes a shift from ideological critiques of the English language teaching industry to an exploration of the emancipatory potential for minority groups in appropriating the language systems of dominant social groups so as to take their own cultural visions into the forums of everyday politics. (Author/VWL)

Notes and discusses resources on the World Wide Web that deal with grammar and that may be useful to teachers. Lists traditional grammar websites, including online handbooks and style guides, but warns that the isolated teaching of grammar has little impact on student writing. Concludes that websites are needed that actually show teachers how to…

Discusses four books that will be useful to teachers who are rethinking how and why they teach grammar, and who want to connect and imbed the study of grammar in students' thinking and writing. (SR)

Studied the linguistic competence in the written language of deaf children and adults and the linguistic development in children and adolescents with Williams Syndrome. Presents qualitative data on spoken and written Italian from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies conducted over the last 10 years. Studying these two different populations can…

Suggests that English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers assess prospective textbooks by comparing real-life user's actual knowledge of the author's assumed student knowledge. Through examination of charts and page excerpts of two ESL grammar textbooks, demonstrates that access to the pedagogical knowledge demands sophisticated formal knowledge,…