Argues for the use of computer-stored corpora in courses in grammar awareness for teachers of mother-tongue English. It is suggested that the ability to do grammar entails a set of skills rather than a body of knowledge and that corpora provide excellent data for doing grammar. Questions regarding the comparison of different methodologies are…

Describes the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) guidelines' approach to describing hypertext features. Discusses the rationale behind the design of the tagset and the range of features included in the guidelines. Discusses the relation and integration of TEI mark-up and the HyTime standard. (CFR)

Maintains that one recurring theme in the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) project has been the need to represent nonhierarchical information in a natural way. Proposes solutions to a variety of related problems. Contends that the examples presented can serve as a useful background for researchers using the TEI guidelines. (CFR)

Argues that dominant theories of first- and second-language acquisition treat language as though it were a culturally homogeneous phenomenon. Because language learners are taught a core variety of the target language, they are often unaware of the cultural differences within the language, tending to see the core language as representative of a…

Twenty lectures by native speaker geology lecturers to nonnative speaker students were transcribed, and 921 instances of vocabulary elaboration were coded into a computer database according to 20 linguistic features. Analysis revealed noticeable variation among lecturers in language range/technicality, vocabulary elaboration, signalling, and use…

A discussion of language policy formation and planning in Australia covers the following: the development of the national policy on languages, and the Australian Language and Literacy Policy and its four goals related to English language and literacy, languages other than English, aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, and…

A discussion of language policy formation and planning in New Zealand focuses on the need for a national languages policy and governmental human resource development planning. It includes "unplanned" language planning; the multilingual/multicultural situation, including Maori, Pacific Islands, other, international, and English languages;…

A discussion of language policy formation and planning in Hong Kong covers the following: language use, change, and shift (including Chinese dialects, written Chinese, Mandarin, and English); the legal system; educational developments. Reasons for the lack of language planning are noted. (Contains 111 references.) (LB)

Systematically explored how three different initial training contexts affect children's and adults' interpretation of novel action verbs. Subjects included 54 3-yearolds, 60 10-year olds, and 60 college-age adults. Findings suggest a hierarchy of verb learning strategies, especially among the youngest children. (DR)

Information about the foreign language academic history, learning attitudes, and academic skills was gathered from high-risk students, low-risk students, and students with learning disabilities. Findings are interpreted in light of the Linguistic Coding Deficit Hypothesis, which speculates that foreign-language learning problems are related to…

Topics for conversation courses include conversational rules and structure, conversational strategies, functions and meaning in conversation, and social and cultural contexts. The direct teaching of conversational skills involves adding specific language input, increasing the role of consciousness raising, and sequencing communicative tasks…

Investigated overextensions in comprehension and production, using the preferential-looking model, in 99 children (ages 1;9 to 2;3) who were asked to find the referent that matched the label they were given in real and anomalous trials. Results confirm that overextensions in production are not diagnostic of children's underlying semantic…

The origin of the term "rule of thumb" is investigated, especially as it relates to legal issues and, in particular, in doctrine concerning the beating of wives. The term's supposed origin as a standard for determining spouse abuse is questioned. (MSE)

Studied the relationship between parents' correcting of childrens' sentences and children's subsequent grammaticality. Found that parent's language corrections are related to children's subsequent grammaticality but that recasts of incorrect sentences serve as negative leading indicators of grammaticality. Also shows that correction and negative…

Examines the influence of conversational interaction on language change. Described two experiments that contrast language coordination between speakers who interacted with the same partner and speakers who interacted with different partners in a maze game context. Suggests that the experiments illustrate how a community affects language change as…