Discusses some of the characteristics of the English language and also some of the pitfalls. Provides a list of writers' tips that are geared toward improving various aspects of writing. (HB)

Shows how certain principles of the study of semantics might be employed in the journalism curriculum as a means of enhancing student reporters' understanding that their perceptions are limited and subject to distortion. Provides a model for explaining these limitations. (HB)

Argues that "E-Prime" (a form of English that eliminates all forms of the verb "to be") should not be woven directly into the fabric of today's system of English education. Reacts to arguments for E-Prime as espoused by David Bourland and states a case against E-Prime. (HB)

The study, with 15 language-learning-disabled and 15 normally achieving children (ages 6-8), found a significant positive correlation between the severity of the language disability and accuracy on 2 of 3 imagery tasks. Performance on one imagery task was significantly related to reading achievement, and imagery ability was related more strongly…

Two studies were conducted, using 131 business administration majors (53 males and 78 females), to examine the psychological midpoints of the 18 bipolar adjective pairs of Fiedler's Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) instrument. Six of the LPC adjective pairs were found to deviate significantly from true bipolarity. (SLD)

A pilot study attempting to determine the feasibility and value of a cognition-based study of classifiers in Chinese demonstrated that the use of the classifier "tiao" was not an arbitrary linguistic device of categorization, but represented some type of human categorization based on an imputed salient perceptual property of extension of…

Two methods for training health professionals to work on interdisciplinary gerontology teams are structured journals in which students record observational, theoretical, and methodological notes during experiential learning and team development inventory, which uses a semantic differential format to measure reactions and attitudes to working as a…

Compared responses of English-French bilinguals performing semantic categorization and lexical decision tasks using translation-priming stimuli. Using the same stimuli, priming effects were significantly stronger in semantic categorization than in lexical decision, suggesting the translation-priming effect in the former is mediated by semantic…

Looks behind the wonders of technology to real and potential losses by using the literature of sociology, education, psychology, philosophy, and semantics. Considers speed, the information glut, cultural amplification, the demise of community, and status, and suggests possible approaches to rethinking information technology. (Author/LRW)

Discusses authentic assessment of student performance as it relates to academic improvement and educational reform. Points out that there is too much testing of basic knowledge and skills out of context, and too little teaching of complex concepts. (MMU)

To investigate the apparent delay in color naming by young children, this study compared natural-kind and color naming (and corresponding comprehension) by 48 young English children who completed testing four times over six weeks. Results indicated that, as opposed to the salience view, the apparent delay in color naming may be explained solely on…

Examines the semantics of Persian modal auxiliaries, considering them in the light of comparable verbs in English. A discussion of dimension of modality in English is provided for clarification. (Author/VWL)

Word substitution errors from a corpus of 2,400 French slips of the tongue were grouped into several categories: contaminational, semantic, formal, and mixed cases; substitutions of syntagmatic codependents also occurred. Semantic and formal substitutions involved a resemblance between target and error. All substitutions exhibited a strong degree…

Two experiments examined the influence of phonological and semantic processes on 4- to 6-year olds' ability to learn to read words. Results indicated that children learned phonetic cues better than control cues and that learning was influenced by both the phonetic properties of the cue and the imageability of the words used. (Author/KB)

Introduces this special issue which describes several approaches to semantic knowledge representations. Discusses the various quantitative procedures employed in the articles, noting that they can also serve as theoretical approaches to knowledge representation. (SR)