Discusses efforts at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to construct an information discovery tool through the fusion of hypertext and information retrieval that works by parsing a contiguous document base into smaller documents and inserting semantic links between them. Also presents a case study that evaluated user reactions.…

Considers specific aspects of phonological and orthographic processing in Chinese that may differ from those in English. Emphasizes that early phonological processes and phonological mediation are two different questions in the identification-with-phonology hypothesis. Shows that "mediation" and "prelexical phonology," two very…

Finds phonological priming effects on compound targets (characters containing separate radical components); no evidence of phonological priming on integrated targets (those not containing separate radicals); semantic priming effects on both compound and integrated target recognition, suggesting that phonological and semantic activation are…

Finds that, because kanji morphemes of opposite and similar concepts are semantically activated both as morpheme units and compound-word units, semantic representations of the two morphemes and the compound word which they create compete with each other at the concept level, which slows down lexical decision and naming of the compound word. (SR)

A technique is presented for applying the Rule Space methodology of cognitive diagnosis to assessment in a semantically rich domain. The approach bases diagnosis on item characteristics that are more abstract than individual problem-solving steps. The method is illustrated through a test of architectural knowledge completed by 122 architects. (SLD)

The seven articles of this theme issue deal with the use of computer-based interactive graphical representations. Studying their use will bring answers to users of static graphics in traditional paper-based media and those who plan instruction using graphical representations that allow semantically direct manipulation. (SLD)

Criticizes the use of the term "education for all" that appeared in an article by Lene Buchert in an earlier issue of this journal. This author argues that Buchert's research strategy is flawed, and that Buchert should have established general, organizing principles for the research undertaken. (CAK)

Describes forms of semantic reinvestment of occupational lexis items in Nigerian English. Three categories and two subcategories of reinvestment are identified: shift, generalization, narrowing, reassignment, and analogy. These types of semantic reinvestment are considered within a sociocultural and linguistic setting of Nigeria as a developing…

Masked priming effects for prefixed words sharing a bound stem (e.g., submit-permit) are compared with priming effects for semantically transparent prefixed words (e.g., fold-unfold). In three experiments, priming effects were obtained for both types with no significant difference between them. Results suggests semantic transparency is not…

Examines the terminology used for "physical disability" in proto-Bantu and contemporary Bantu languages. Support for differing regional and historical meanings is developed, with the most ancient meaning linking physical disability to "becoming heavy" and contemporary Bantu emphasizing categorization in both human and non-human…

Investigates the position of adverbial clauses in a subset consisting of 42 texts drawn from 6 text types, 3 from written English and 3 from spoken English. The article identifies factors influencing the position choice for various types of adverbial clauses. Findings indicate that clause length is not a significant positional factor. (nine…

Examines the acquisition of Japanese numeral classifiers in Japanese preschool children, with a primary emphasis on developing comprehension ability. Argues that different techniques and stimulus contrast sets reveal a much greater sensitivity to semantic relations in young children than was previously considered possible. (Author/VWL)

Studied bilingual knowledge maps (BiK-maps) as tools for learning German-English word pairs. Results for 72 undergraduates indicate that BiK-map learners outperformed list learners on all dependent measures. Semantic emphasis negatively affected performance over time. (SLD)

Two experiments examined children's semantic representations and semantic naming errors. Results suggested that functional and physical properties are core aspects of object representations in the semantic lexicon and that the degree of semantic knowledge makes words more or less vulnerable to retrieval failure. Discussion focuses on the dynamic…

Focuses on the semantic-conceptual structure that contains the ideas and information a speaker wishes to convey to a listener. Reviews the status of temporal cycles using appropriate design and statistical procedures. Explores the correlates and dynamics of temporal cycles in spontaneous spoken discourse. (Author/VWL)