Re-analysis of data regarding children's acquisition of tense and aspect indicated that children learning Polish were influenced by aspect in acquiring verb tense in the same way as children were influenced in learning other languages. Children beginning to learn verb inflections found aspectual contour particularly compelling in leading them to…

Explores the concept of markedness in two different linguistically based approaches to universals in second language acquisition. While typologists define markedness implicationally, current theories of language learnability define markedness in terms of the Subset Principle. (21 references) (Author/CB)

Raises a series of questions concerning the use of distance learning in second-language instruction, including (1) why use distance learning? (2) what are the limitations to distance learning? and (3) what does research say about the use of distance learning in the second-language classroom? (Author/VWL)

Presents the results of an analysis of the acquisition of fricatives in 5 English children between the ages of 24 and 49 months. After giving an overview of the area of articulatory phonetics and citing previous research, data collection, scoring problems, and error analysis are discussed. (CFM)

An overview is given of semantic research in adult Second Language Acquisition (SLA), focusing particular attention on undirected SLA. Several studies on child SLA are mentioned, and suggestions for further research on SLA semantics are offered. (35 references) (GLR)

Reports on an experiment undertaken to explore further whether language proficiency is divisible or unitary, using the principal factor analysis, and to identify the factors involved with the scores of 58 subjects of similar language and cultural backgrounds. (Author/CB)

Examines how the term "Middle Arabic" has been used insufficiently, inappropriately, and in inconsistent manners, and also defines Middle Arabic by historical period and linguistic level. An analysis is made of Middle Arabic's multiglossic complexity and the unique structure of Middle Arabic compared to Old and Modern Arabic. (23 references) (GLR)

Explores how children learn the range of aspect inflection to which a verb is amenable. Analyses focus on the children's mastery of Aktionsart specific intersentential patterns. Three conclusions are given based on the study's results. (21 references) (GLR)

Investigated interaction styles and success at problem solving by students of English as a Second Language. The most interesting outcome of this study was the finding that when passive learners were paired with active ones, these pairs were as effective as dyads made up of only active ones. (26 references) (Author/VWL)

Part of a research project is presented that aims at identifying the difficulties tertiary level students encounter in reading scientific texts in a foreign language and the strategies they apply to overcome them. Strategy markers are identified and listed, and are then analyzed to interpret the linguistic difficulty and the strategy used.…

Findings from correlational studies of language learning behaviors and achievement on specific tasks are summarized and the implications are discussed. The interaction of learner strategies associated with classroom behavior and current teacher strategies is explored, and suggestions are presented for making this interaction effective. 40…

Summarizes the literature on self-evaluation of foreign language skills, focusing on the implications for teachers and researchers. Although the findings are contradictory, they appear to support Krashen's Monitor Model Theory, indicating that foreign language learners' self-estimates may be influenced by varying degrees by the use of the monitor.…

Examines evaluative reactions to transcriptions of naturally occurring male and female speech. Seeks to determine the extent to which these evaluations are accounted for by speech differences between the sexes, by differences in sex-role stereotypes held by respondents, and by speech differences within the sexes. (SR)

Major works on the history, structure, and teaching of American Sign Language (ASL) in the last quarter-century are reviewed, and studies of the culture of the deaf are outlined. Research on the linguistic nature of ASL is highlighted, and some attention is given to British Sign Language. (Author/MSE)

Identifies issues specific to syntactic parsing for intelligent computer-assisted language instruction (ICALI), including applications, types of input errors, characteristics of natural language, and output. Presents a general overview and assessment of grammar formalisms and parsing strategies in relation to ICALI. (Author/LS)