Discusses research in semantic processing and narrative discourse by psycholinguists, applied linguists, and speech pathologists. Focuses on children's comprehension of the language of instruction and contrasts normal and disordered comprehension and performance. Presents excerpts from two language evaluations that utilize some recent approaches…

Compares the processing of English words by Chinese-English bilinguals with that of monolingual English speakers. Subjects read and rated English words for their contribution to sentence structure and meaning. It was found that bilinguals generally rated English words as contributing more to sentence structure and meaning than did monolinguals.…

Describes an approach for dealing with the pronunciation of advanced ESL learners who may be relatively fluent but whose pronunciation remains quite inaccurate and highly resistant to change. Suggests a somewhat unorthodox teaching program that draws on research from several disciplines. (SL)

Examines preliminary results of study investigating acquisition of sound system of English as a second language by 15 five-year-olds. Data collected over 10 months were grouped according to eight phonological processes in three categories: assimilation, substitution, and syllable structure changes. (SL)

The development, administration, and scoring of a communicative test and its validation with tests of linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in English and Spanish are reported. Correlation with measures of home language use and school achievement are also presented, and issues of test validation for bilingual programs are discussed. (MSE)

This article reports on a study designed to obtain data on the first words understood and produced by eight infants. It provides a descriptive account of the earliest levels of language comprehension and allows comparison of lexical development in comprehension and production. (Author/CFM)

Examined role of linguistic demarcation of numerals on cognitive representations of numbers with Caucasian children, 5-7 years old. Theorized that the linguistic paradigm does not always support the idea that language affects number concepts and that children's performance is shaped by other constraints. Results suggest that the task reflects…

Explores the role of computer-assisted activities in functional language learning. Suggests that computers appear to be a valuable tool for facilitating language use within the classroom. When used appropriately, computers can provide a genuine, real-world context for children's explorations through their journey to becoming competent literacy…

Examines a song spontaneously created by a 44-month old. Finds that the relationship of the structure and functions of the song demonstrated the variation of egocentric speech connected to the child's thinking. Concludes that observation of form and content of such language use can provide information about language development, sense of self, and…

Adult and child L2 acquisition of syntax-semantics interface phenomena must be compared with monolingual L1 acquisition of the same phenomena in order to assess the possible effects of interference and transfer. However, this "L1A touchstone" can also be misleading because non-grammatical mechanisms that interact with such interface phenomena may…

Lip movements were examined across several repetitive speaking conditions (speech alone and speaking concurrently with a linguistic, cognitive, or visuomotor challenge task) in 20 young adults. Performance in these nonspeech activities was also compared between isolated tasks and concurrent speech conditions. Linguistic challenges resulted in…