Argues that there are very good reasons for developing discourse grammars for second-language (L2) teaching. Exemplifies the criteria for moving from sentence-based grammar to the discourse level. The criteria are based on pedagogical and descriptive problems in grammar that sentence-based approaches cannot adequately deal with. (Author/VWL)

Two experiments were conducted to determine whether a parser's on-line processes are affected by manipulation of case markings in Korean sentence processing, and to evaluate the usefulness of a Ranked Flagged Serial Parser model in predicting Korean ambiguity resolution processes. (Author/VWL)

Seeks to establish connections between two different language contact phenomena, interlanguage, and code switching. Data for the study come from an interlanguage corpus that has English as the target language, but also contains material from the speaker's two first languages, Spanish and German; and a German-English code switching corpus…

Describes the use of grammatical terminology in the practices of four second-language teachers, discussing the motivations for teachers' decisions regarding this aspect of their work. Audio recordings of teachers' lessons and interviews in which teachers discussed the use of terminology in their lessons indicated that a range of experiential,…

A grammaticality judgment test based on five structures of English grammar was administered in oral and written form. Two groups were formed by separating participants who began learning English at younger and older than 15 years of age. Performance patterns were different for the two groups, the linguistic structure tested affected participants'…

Focuses on the storyline strategy which uses the components of a story (setting, characters, and plot) to organize concepts in a lesson. Provides a lesson on the Kiribati new year celebration using the storyline strategy. Offers alternative ideas for a storyline unit on Kiribati. (CMK)

Examines young children's communicative competence in schooled narrative and the nature of its development. Analyzes four stories for inclusion of a variety of linguistic markers that embody three essential features of schooled narrative--autonomy, conventionality, and specialized grammar. Suggests that the development of schooled narrative…

This essay explores the history of the parts of speech and how individual acquisition of grammar may recapitulate history's discovery of the parts of speech and their related patterns. This history of grammar has been incorporated into a program called "Keepers of Alexandria" that is used with at-risk 4th-6th graders to improve reading,…

Analyzes the teaching of linguistics and ethics of representing linguistic issues in a persuasive way, examining tensions between telling it like it is and telling it in a way that students will listen. The paper highlights persuasion, the introduction of linguistic concepts, the importance of understanding dialects and their role in education,…

Studies the collaborative output of students engaged in grammar dictation tasks in a British English-as-a-foreign-language context. Investigated the effect of pre-task focus on form work on task output processes. Focus is on how the framework of Language Related Episodes used by other researchers was refined to analyze second language output…

For children whose everyday speech differs greatly from the School English (SE) they encounter in academic materials and settings, it was hypothesized that greater familiarity with SE would be associated with more successful early reading acquisition. Sentence imitation and reading skills of 217 urban African American students in kindergarten…

Many researchers have found that learners go through stages in acquiring the L2 tense system: from relying on pragmatic devices to using more lexical devices, and then to using more grammatical morphology. Chinese is a language that has no tense (a [-tense] language) and relies on pragmatic and lexical devices to indicate temporal locations. The…

Purpose: The variable deletion of word-final consonants is a well-known feature of African American English (AAE). This study aimed to show whether African American children exhibit an alveolar bias in their deletion of final voiceless stops as has been observed for their production of final nasals. Method: The data were extracted from more than…

English and writing teachers are often pressurized to return to the basics of grammar, despite the evidence that drilling grammar does not improve students' writing skills. A great disparity exists between public perception of effective education and the perception of professional educators, which is the main reason why parents and government…

This article takes a microanalytic perspective on the speech and gestures used by one teacher of English as a second language in her intensive English program classroom. Videotaped excerpts from her intermediate-level grammar course were transcribed to represent the speech, gesture, and other nonverbal behavior that accompanied unplanned…