A careful examination of the location of variation in the grammar is advocated as opposed to attempts to cover linguistic generalizations with a single rule. Such an examination may lead to non-deterministic solutions, since there may be two distinct possible derivations for a single surface structure. For instance, in Portuguese, the variation…

The influence of maternal language use patterns on the use patterns of the child was investigated in a black, low-income mother-child pair over a 20-month period, beginning at the child's 11th month of age. Video recordings were made of the pair's interaction in an unstructured playroom setting approximately every four weeks. Child multi-word…

THIS GUIDE WAS PREPARED FOR THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER WHO HAS HAD LITTLE OR NO TRAINING IN LINGUISTICS. OPPORTUNITIES FOR CALLING ATTENTION TO THE LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE OCCUR FREQUENTLY IN THE CLASSROOM, AND THIS GUIDE PROVIDES SUGGESTIONS FOR MAKING USE OF THEM. FOUR INITIAL CHAPTERS DISCUSS THE USAGE OF LINGUISTICS, PROVIDE A…

ORIENTALISTS HAVE OBSERVED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL "STANDARD" LANGUAGES OF CHINA AND JAPAN AS A GRADUAL REPLACEMENT OF THE OLD "WRITTEN-LITERARY" LANGUAGE BY THE "COLLOQUIAL" SPOKEN LANGUAGE. THE AUTHOR DEFINES "WRITTEN-LITERARY" LANGUAGE, CORRESPONDING TO "WEN-YEN" IN CHINESE AND…

APPROPRIATE ENGLISH USAGE SHOULD NOT BE DETERMINED BY RIGID AND ARTIFICAL REGULATIONS SET UP BY SCHOLARS MORE INTERESTED IN DEMONSTRATING THEIR OWN SUPERIORITY THAN IN DESCRIBING THE WAY LANGUAGE IS ACTUALLY USED. INSTEAD, GOOD ENGLISH SHOULD REVEAL ITSELF AS "THE PRODUCT OF CUSTOM" AND SHOULD CHANGE WITH "THE ORGANIC LIFE OF THE LANGUAGE." THUS,…

These guidelines have been designed to guide English teachers in taking steps to eliminate sexism from the English classroom. Separate sections define sexism, examine ways that language works to perpetuate sexism, show how literature works to perpetuate sexism, and list frequently used terms that are sexist in nature or use, along with nonsexist…

This study examines the use of the auxiliaries "avoir" and "etre" and of the prefix "re-" in the speech of Franco-Ontarian students. It is found that the tendency to use non-standard constructions such as "j'ai arrive en retard" and "je vais remettre la roue 'back'" has its origins in historical…

This paper represents an initial attempt at assessing the role of English as a legal language in the Western Visayan province of Aklan in the Philippines. In particular, the study sought to determine the extent to which English is used as a legal language in Aklan as well as in what ways, and the extent to which the law itself may be considered an…

Two main viewpoints have been consistently implied in linguistic research on creativity. The externalist sees creativity as outside the normal language, and the internalist views creativity as a basic process of language use. In this paper, creativity is regarded as the adaptation of the potential of systems to the demands of a particular act of…

Research was conducted to examine selected formal features of conversational segments enacted by family members in three modes of television programming: documentary, prime time, and soap opera. A sample of videotape recordings for each program format was content-analyzed for: (1) segment length, (2) length of conversational turn, and (3) duration…

This text contains 66 lessons in Fante for the student of Fante as a second language. The principal emphasis of the lessons is in developing skills in the spoken language, and study is preferable with a native speaker of Fante. The use of English is to be avoided except when absolutely necessary. Because of the attention given to oral skills, the…

Three papers from this issue of the Working Papers are provided here. "The Nesting Constraint in Child Language," by Patrick Alan Brogan, discusses a child's ability to perform complex, internally embedded sentences. It is hypothesized that difficulty stems from a child's limited short-term memory. "A Framework for Studying Kin Term…

This study investigated the agreement between previously published vocabulary lists recommended for use with children and lists derived from the speech of contemporary children in grades one, two, and three in Toronto. In the first part of the study, existing vocabulary lists were compared. In the second part, language samples were collected from…

Elizabeth City State University has established a program concentrating in speech pathology and audiology which is nontraditional in approach. It serves as a support in giving valuable substance and current expertise to those programs already offered in the area of language proficiency. Growing out of the established educational concept that…

This study examines those factors that have contributed to the introduction and development of the teaching of English in the Philippine educational system. By virtue of its educational policy, the American colonial administration started using it as a medium of instruction. Optimism ran high among Filipino leaders, especially the nationalists,…