The author argues that a child is linguistically sophisticated by the time he starts school and that his language should be respected even if it does not fit the correct" pattern of the school. (MM)

The redundancy of some English grammatical elements is illustrated by comparisons with similar Chinese constructions. (RD)

Analyzes the mechanisms involved in speech level shift in discourse that contains the "des/mas" forms. Concludes that level shift is often used to signal empathy between speakers and to indicate coherence and the hierarchical positioning of utterances in discourse. (EKN)

Analysis of interaction between pairs of deaf and hearing preschoolers indicated that both roles in dialogue (speaker-initiator and speaker-responder) were used by dyads, but their pattern of performance was different. Deaf speaker-initiators displayed a narrower range of complexity in their utterances while deaf speaker-responders were less…

Discusses common misconceptions about German adverbs. Explains that adverbs can also modify nouns, pronouns, and entire sentences, and that the adverb modifies by showing condition rather than characteristic. Adds "cause" and "negation" to the traditional adverbial categories of "time,""manner," and "place." (EKN)

Discusses the "nur/erst" translation problem and offers several strategies for determining which one should be used for the English "only." (EKN)

Discusses the evolution and use of verb prefixes in Russian. The prefixes are classified by semantic content with subclasses of variants and problem verbs also given. (EKN)

Suggests that translational efficiency and effectiveness could be advanced by the same consideration of grammatical patterns that is standard with lexical items. Decries the absence of the type of grammar that could be a useful reference tool for translators and exegetes and describes some of its characteristics. (MES)

Claims that mere frequency of presentation is not enough for efficient vocabulary learning to take place. Each item should be presented in a wide range of syntactic contexts. It should also be noted that even apparent synonyms may not be substituted one for the other in any sentence-frame. (AMH)

The nature and development of communicative abilities in young children is introduced as the central theme of this issue of "Theory into Practice." (JD)