Discusses the various components necessary for a formal model of the acquisition of the prosodic phonology of a second language and reports on empirical investigations of the acquisition of English metrical parameters by native speakers of Polish, Hungarian, and Spanish. (50 references) (MDM)

Maintains that both traditional and computerized scholars face problems when they attempt empirical research on women writers and women readers using currently available computational tools. Discusses factors that have inhibited empirical research and uses examples from research on 18th century English poetry. (CFR)

This article focuses on a change affecting Spanish in contact with English in the United States: simplification and loss of subjunctive mood morphology. Analysis of conversational data from 17 Mexican American bilinguals representing 3 immigrant groups living in Los Angeles reveals a reduced inclination for the obligatory use of the subjunctive in…

Demonstrates that the patterns of Japanese/English code-switching found in Canadian Niseis' in-group speech are conditioned by the varieties of bilingual speech characterized in terms of base language. When Japanese is the base, English nouns are used; when English is the base, Japanese phrases and sentences occur sporadically. (38 references)…

Examines the ways in which social process, sociology, anthropology, and media studies recently seem to have replaced pedagogy, linguistics, and psychology as the major preoccupations in British applied linguistics. The role that applied linguistics research can occupy in an emerging political order characterized by free-market economics and…

A method for examining intelligibility is studied that involves recording undergraduates' immediate feedback on communication breakdowns, and then analyzing those breakdowns with English-as-a-Second-Language specialists. Pronunciation was found to be the major cause of unintelligibility. (10 references) (Author/LB)

Presents results of a study in which subjects produced narratives with the help of a computer. Discusses control processes, correction of wrong choices, and coherence of narrative. Concludes that expert functioning is the result of the acquisition of the narrative structure and the processes involved and is highly related to metacognitive…

In a study of the verbal environment, teachers' language was analyzed in two different interactive contexts: when interacting with a different number of interlocutors, and when talking to children of different linguistic competence. Results show that in both interactive contexts teachers tend to adapt their linguistic style to the characteristics…

Examines questions of constructing a unified theory in Black Studies, and proposes a model that has explained creole language phenomena as a possible basis for such a unified theory. Explores the role of African languages in the formation of creole patterns. (SLD)

Discussion of cross-cultural media transfer emphasizes computer software portability. Educational aspects of portability are discussed; types of software most suitable to portability are described; educational guidelines for portability that focus on linguistic, contextual, structural, and motivational factors are offered; and a formative…

Applies a functional perspective to examine aspects of lexical style in English-language Indian newspapers and to explore the dynamics of Indian nativization of English. Findings reveal that the sociocultural constraints of the native situation significantly affect lexicology, with variations influenced more by situations than by language…

This study is a continuation of an ethnographic study of a six-year-old Japanese child learning English as a Second Language. It is concluded that language transfer, overgeneralization, and simplification combined with natural development all worked together in the development of the subject's interlanguage, irrespective of the overwhelming input…

This study investigated the relationship among input, interaction, and second-language production among 16 native-nonnative dyads. The results indicated that both modified input and interaction initiated by the native speaker lead to greater comprehension by the nonnative speaker, as measured by task performance. (Contains 48 references.) (MDM)

Examined the development of principles of control in the grammar of 15 preschool children over a 9-month period, focusing on pronominal reference. The results confirm a developmental sequence that is driven by lexical learning and changing structural analyses. (38 references) (MDM)

The first part of a larger planned investigation, this study examines the use of "por" and "para" by nine Peace Corps volunteers in oral interviews at the end of training and roughly one year later, to trace their acquisition over time, in two learning contexts. (24 references) (LB)