This study investigates whether or not abstract-level linguistic features, not successfully acquired abroad, will be acquired once the advanced language learner returns from a study abroad program and is exposed to linguistic instruction. The goal of the study was to measure the development of the Spanish subjunctive in adverbial clauses collected…

This paper presents an empirical study of how different "wh"-words behave in English speakers' L2 Chinese "wh"-questions. Our results indicate that L2 Chinese "wh"-questions are specified by the Chinese "wh" -particle ne and that there is neither variability nor L1 transfer in this aspect of L2 grammars as no "wh"-movement is found in English…

This article investigates the L2 acquisition of clausal syntax in postpuberty learners of German and Swedish regarding V2, VP headedness, and verb particle constructions. The learner data are tested against L2 theories according to which lower structural projections (VP) are acquired before higher functional projections (IP, CP), VP syntax is…

The authors address the need to teach students to become more word aware by focusing on metasemantic awareness, alongside morphological and syntactic awareness, as a basis for developing metacognition about words. They extend the concept of a definition map to other forms of vocabulary learning and provide several helpful graphic organizers.…

This article presents three studies that investigate when syntactic constraints become available during the processing of long-distance backwards pronominal dependencies ("backwards anaphora" or "cataphora"). Earlier work demonstrated that in such structures the parser initiates an active search for an antecedent for a pronoun, leading to gender…

Many factors that contribute towards the perception of second language (L2) sounds and the subsequent establishment of L2 phonetic categories have been the focus of past research. However, learning a third language, unlike SLA, may be influenced by additional factors attributed to the presence of two language systems in a bilingual instead of one…

Tboli is a language spoken by people living in southwestern Mindanao, Philippines, in the province of South Cotabato. The pedagogical grammar of Tboli has been written to help non-Tboli interested in learning to speak Tboli. A discussion of spelling and pronunciation includes the alphabet and spelling rules. Other forms of grammar described are…

This paper discusses Role and Reference Grammar (RRG), which is a structuralist-formalist theory of grammar. RRG grew out of an attempt to answer two fundamental questions: (1) what would linguistic theory look like if it were based on the analysis of Lakhota, Tagalog, and Dyirbal, rather than on the analysis of English?; and (2) how can the…

This paper proposes an explanation for the limited possibilities of realized conjunctions in multitermed coordinations. It argues that conjunction "&" heads a fully articulated phrase (&P), which can iterate &P shells, similar to "V" in Larson's (1988) VP-shell hypothesis. This structure enables a single & to unify any number of conjuncts, and…

A study investigated the validity of a linking rule of object affectedness; the rule states that an argument is expressed as the direct object of a verb if its referent is specified as affected in a specific way in the semantic representation of the verb. Specifically, the study examined whether the principle determines which argument will be…

Two instances of unaccusative verb mismatches in Japanese are examined. An unaccusative mismatch is the situation in which a different accusative diagnostic singles out different classes of intransitive verbs within and across languages. One type of unaccusative mismatch has to do with group C verbs, or verbs of manner with protagonist control.…

To investigate semantic and syntactic variables in the written language of normally hearing and hearing impaired children, 49 hearing impaired and 49 normally hearing children (10-14 years old) were asked to write compositions based on the Accident/Emergency Picture in the Peabody Language Development Kit. In addition, syntactic characteristics…

Discusses differences between text and dialog. Characteristics of dialog--ellipsis, use of function-words, valence-reductions, specific sentence models, placement of sentence elements, sentence depth, internal sentence structure--set limits to the teachability of dialog. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Discusses two kinds of "temporal indifference" in German tense forms: "timelessness" (Function I) and "all-time-ness" (Function II). Function I occurs in generally true statements, proverbs, definitions, etc. Function II denotes a time period which "empirically appears unbounded on both sides." (Text is in…

Review of some syntactic problems concerning the use of French pronouns. (PMP)