Analyses of longitudinal speech data collected from two children indicated that children rapidly acquire count/mass noun distinctions. (Author/CB)

Research findings on semantic cohesion within a sentence and its effect on individuals' performance in using the sentences illustrate how research methodology can influence research outcomes. (MSE)

Examines the Test of Language Development-Primary (TOLD-P), an individual test of English language proficiency which has four principal uses: to identify problems in language proficiency: to determine strengths and weaknesses in language skills: to document progress provided by programs; and to serve as a device for research.(NH)

Discusses critical thinking as the process of moving fluently among abstraction levels. Defines three components involved in fluency of movement: (1) knowledge, or an awareness of the existence of abstraction levels; (2) payoff, or the reason for acquiring fluency; and (3) timing, or a consciousness of abstraction levels at a given time and place.…

Unless a clear distinction is made between the semantic time reference of the modal "perfect" and that of the present perfect aspect, these forms will remain confusing to students of English as a second language. A brief sequence is suggested for teaching modals which incorporates and clarifies these time relationships and simplifies the…

Compares two types of semantic development (the acquisition of disappearance words and success-failure words) to performance on two types of cognitive tasks (object-permanence and means-ends tasks) among infants. (HOD)

Reports on two experiments that investigated sex differences in the use of organization strategies in free recall with categorizable and unrelated word lists across age in elementary school. Shows sex differences were pronounced across the ages tested and consistent with principles of strategy development, with males showing a developmental lag in…

Demonstrates the value of quantitative analysis of discourse options by focusing on two discourse options for the representation of cause and effect. (HTH)

The author shares her insights about the principles and knowledge of the writing system that children discover, develop, and learn to control. She categorizes these principles as functional principles, linguistic principles, and relational principles. (CT)

Describes a computer game designed for students of German, which uses techniques of artificial intelligence to create a model of language understanding by computer in an adventure game set in Berlin. In addition to providing a concrete means for testing students' language understanding, the game is a useful, highly motivating, learning mode. (SL)

Discusses (1) the process of early language development, giving specific attention to problematic aspects of a vocabulary for audition; (2) elicitation and instruction tasks used in the study of language acquisition; and (3) an investigation designed to compare language acquisition for dimensions of visual, spatial, and tactual perception with…

Current colloquial use of the simple past and present perfect shows a tendency of the former to encroach on the semantic field of the latter so that the two may be used in free variation in many contexts. The contexts in which this is not possible are defined, and implications for teaching English as a second language are discussed. (MSE)

Presents a rationale for undertaking the study of language. Views this study as a psychological investigation into how the self forms an identity of itself through its language, rather than how it is formed by its language. Thus, the structure of language is seen as a representational system, allowing a multiplicity of meanings. (SL)

An error analysis was made of 26 essays written by English-speaking honor students in their first year of university German. Results illustrate the relative frequency of errors occurring in the sample, together with some possible explanations for certain types of errors. (SED)

The review of studies on parental language to language-impaired children cites methodological problems and discusses findings on the following topics: parental effects on language development, the importance of discourse contingencies, (semantic contingencies, acknowledgments, and parental self-repititions), sentence types and associated…