Explores the different ways in which the term "competence" has been used in linguistics, considers the difficulties that arise when the term is used outside the domain for which it was originally intended. Making a clear distinction between "competence" and "proficiency" helps to resolve these difficulties. (Author/CB)

Pointing gestures of verbally advanced two-year-olds were contrasted with those of less advanced peers to examine the relationships of gesture to language during the acquisition of each. Formal and functional aspects of each communicative skill were measured. Gesture and language corresponded only in their functional aspects. (Author/AS)

Asks adults and 6-, 9- and, 13 year olds' questions about tape-recorded stories in order to investigate their ability to recognize sincere, deceptive, and sarcastic remarks. Results indicate that the youngest children interpret all remarks as sincere; 9 and 13 year olds can appreciate deliberate falsehood, but only adults identify sarcasm.…

Reviews research pertaining to metalinguistic awareness in young children; examines issues related to the direction of cause between metalinguistic abilities and reading, disparities in research methodology between studies, and commercial instruments perporting to measure metalinguistic knowledge; and offers implications for reading instruction…

Investigates the influence of time pressure and focus of attention on the correct use of two Dutch word order rules in the speech of 32 adult learners of the language. The relation between explicitness of rule knowledge, assessed in an interview, and rule application, elicited in the experiment, is also discussed. (EKN)

This article contains excerpts of a speech given in 1935 to the American Philosophical Association. Professor Lewis discusses the importance of learning different contexts of words without learning grammatical terminology such as nominative possessive, and dative cases. He also examines the origin of modern abstract words from past physical…

Noting that there is a growing body of evidence supporting the many connections between cognitive competence and high-quality pretend play, this article defines the cluster of concepts related to pretend play and cognition, and briefly synthesizes the latest research on the role of such play in children's cognitive, social, and academic…

Urges classroom teachers to examine the current language research and dialect discoveries in order to teach effectively.

Presents ideas for preparing preservice teachers for language instruction with fieldwork which progresses through several stages. (RB)

Discusses the necessity of teaching not only standard'' French in the classroom, but also those functional varieties of the language which make it an instrument of communication. (D)

Research supported by the Fonds National belge de la Recherche Scientifique. (DD)