Two experiments examined the comprehension of singly and multiply negated sentences. Difficulty of comprehension was measured by the speed and accuracy with which subjects judged the semantic reasonableness of sentences. Marked and negatively prefixed adjectives were a particular focus of the study. (Author/RM)

An experiment is reported which shows that with identical preceding context, the same initial phoneme targets contained in high transitional probability words were responded to significantly faster than those in low transitional probability words. The result argues for the importance of transitional probability as an independent variable in…

Explores the semantic distinctions and tonal behaviors of four types of "lai" in Taiwanese. It is concluded that some types cannot be fully understood without reference to the underlying structure, the surface structure being often insufficient for determining the tonal shape of the syllable in utterance. (CLK)

Two experiments are reported which explore (1) into what categories do native listeners divide the perceived pitch contours of their language; (2) into what perceptual units can these overall contour structures be further broken down; and (3) what is the range of tolerance for each unit? (Author/RM)

Research studies in the areas of children's writing and reading interests are reported.

Reports on two experiments which question the assumption that semantic processing is superior to nonsemantic processing, and which demonstrate that effective semantic elaboration cannot be equated with the quantity of semantically congrous information. (Author/AM)

Demonstrates the operation of the universal principles of lexical simplification, through an examination of its use in translation; second language learning and teaching, and simplified reading texts. (Author/AM)

Proposes that English educators provide increased inservice training, doctoral programs for nontrditional students, training in secondary reading instruction, increased research on language acquisition and development, and special training for school administrators. (DD)

Four stories were divided into function word units; a dozen variables were all found to be statistically significant predictors of recall. For the more structured stories, subjects' intuitions, gist, and redundancy were the best predictors; for the less structured stories, serial position and repetition were best. (EJS)

Variations in lexicon, phonology, morphology, and syntax of Spanish as spoken in Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, and Castile have led to a diversity in the types of Spanish taught in Caribbean schools. The Programa Interamericano de Linguistica y Ensenanza de Idiomas is conducting a survey which will provide authoritative standards for Spanish teachers.…

The nature of early games and how they might assist the infant in language acquisition were explored in a longitudinal study of two mother-infant dyads, using video-recordings of their free play. The analysis of appearance and disappearance games was particularly revealing. (EJS)

Establishes the relationship between linguistic stress and fundamental frequency and the intonation contours in short declarative sentences, interrogative sentences, and nonterminal clauses in Advanced Standard Copenhagen Danish. The work is based on acoustical analyses of recordings by four subjects. (Author/EJS)

Measurements of the fundamental frequencies of Danish vowels showed a positive correlation with tongue height. The fundamental frequency differences between high and low vowels were greatest in long vowels in stressed position, while short vowels in unstressed position differed to a much lesser degree. (Author/EJS)

An experiment tests conjectures that right ear advantage (REA) has an auditory origin in competition or interference between acoustically similar stimuli and that feature-sharing effect (FSE) has its origin in assignment of features of phonetically similar stimuli. No effect on the REA for acoustic similarity, and a clear effect of acoustic…