Comparison of maternal speech to three-month-olds between American (N=20) and Japanese (N=20) mother-infant dyads revealed that infant gaze affected the intended functions of maternal speech differently for the two groups. Cultural differences were also seen in the nature of function-form and function-referent relationships. (Author/CB)

An analysis of the forms of French spoken in one area of France and two regions of Canada, focusing on the "ne" of negative forms and the occurrence of the /l/ in clitic pronouns and definite articles, is presented and possible historical explanations are discussed. (MSE)

Presents an oral, contextual approach to Spanish subjunctive study (for elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels) and describes sample exercises for: verbs of implied command, impersonal expressions implying command or judgment, verbs of emotions, expressions of wish and desire, expressions of doubt and denial, adjective clauses, and…

Humor--and communication itself--when translating from one language to another, depends on an accumulation of shared understandings about how people say things in a given culture. Examples are given in translations of Portuguese to English and English to Portuguese. (CB)

Children with oral language disorders have difficulty in the areas of social behavior and family relationships as well as with academics and vocational achievement. Remediation should focus on specific language deficits, appropriate social interaction skills, and helping the individual to understand and take responsibility for effective…

Presents the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language's language proficiency guidelines for Japanese, encompassing speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills for novice, intermediate, and advanced learners. (CB)

Examines elementary school-aged children's knowledge of directives. Presents findings of cross-sectional research which contrasted first-, third-, and fifth-grade students' comprehension, production of, and reasoning about directives varying in degree of explicitness. Indicates that children's knowledge of directives continues to develop during…

This literature-based review examines the relationship between the acquisition of segmental awareness and the acquisition of alphabetic literacy. Cited studies show that the segmental analysis ability of most dyslexics is very poor and suggest one factor may be related to the conscious representation of speech on which the analytic capacity…

A study compared the vocabulary learning/use and social and communication growth of eight severely handicapped (six with Downs Syndrome) nonoral toddlers under two conditions; (1) a microcomputer-based approach; and (2) traditional language intervention techniques. Results indicated no differential effect for either treatment condition. (Author/CB)

A review of research on foreign language proficiency, constraints of language learning, and constraints of the learner suggests that current oral language proficiency standards and tests are more helpful in evaluating the effectiveness of a foreign language program than in evaluating the achievement of individual students. (CB)

Explores the discourse and speech acts used by Black children between the ages of 5 and 10 in one Midwestern community. Examines the rhetorical devices of teasing, name-calling, riddles, and joke-stories and hypothesizes as to the functional significance of each in the cultural environment. (SA)

This essay addresses the effect of introducing a foreign language into the formal education of oral-traditional societies. Highlights include the nature of such societies, language in formal education, reading and language acquisition, developing a theory of high retention and recall, and overall implications for national development and…

Concludes that children's discourse production is organized according to a schema that is discourse specific but modality general. (FL)

This report summarizes research on the role of English oral proficiency in acquiring English literacy, noting issues that English language learners (ELLs) encounter because of their developing English oral proficiency and discussing best practices in supporting English language development in the context of literacy instruction for those students.…

This book is organized into twelve chapters, each of which deals with a major aspect of studying at university. Each chapter contains information, examples, quotations from students and tasks for readers to do. Answers to the tasks, where necessary, are included at the end of each chapter. The authors have also included a glossary at the beginning…