Recent developments in cognitive science are assessed as challenge to well established view in philosophy of linguistics that meaning is inherent to language and is relatively fixed. Information provided by words and sentences, language comprehension, constructions of interpretations (not meanings), and arguments against relativism are discussed.…

There is little use spending time and money implementing multicultural programs which have little or no effect. Discussed are two techniques, the sociometric test and the semantic differential, which can be used by teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts to reduce or perhaps eliminate prejudice and discrimination. (RM)

Considers question of appropriate translation of English gerund into Spanish. While English has two distinct constructions, the gerund and the clause (tensed or infinitive), Spanish has both types of clauses but no comparable use of the gerund. Suggests that English gerund be translated into Spanish not by a bare clause, but instead by the…

Investigated the hypotheses that language-impaired children produce fewer logical propositions per utterance and evidence less control of formal syntactic markers. Matched for mean length of utterance, language samples from 10 language-impaired children approximately five years of age and 10 normal children about three years of age were analyzed.…

Examines some of the early uses of instrumental nouns unaccompanied by prepositions and considers the various meanings they conveyed, in order to show the kinds of changes they have undergone. A number of nominal forms have been adverbialized, and some have been replaced by prepositional phrases or other grammatical constructions. (SL)

Used 12 bipolar adjectives to assess perceptions of 41 counseling students who rated themselves as counselors. Pretest and posttest ratings showed trainees' self-perceptions changed positively on evaluative, potency and activity dimensions during their initial skills training. The semantic differential technique was sensitive to changes in…

The acquisition of verbs may be more difficult than noun acquisition because verbs encode information that is inherently less stable and more ephemeral. A sorting-strategies method was utilized to analyze young children's acquisition of verb meaning. (DF)

Investigates the extent to which children develop the ability to comprehend and explain literal and idiomatic meanings as a function of age and sex. (EKN)

A linguistic analysis of a prose text from Somerset Maugham's "On a Chinese Screen" is made under the following four heads: (1) Content and Organization; (2) Lexis; (3) Grammatical Structure; and (4) Typographical Features. (CFM)

In 1954 Osgood and Luria reported a blind analysis of a case of triple personality, popularly known as "The Three Faces of Eve," that had been analyzed by Thigpen and Cleckley. Here they combined with Robert Jeans to do a similar blind analysis of a case Jeans was treating in the late 1960s. (Editor/RK)

Reports some additional research that may resolve questions about the meanings accessed in recognizing ambiguous words. (Author/RK)

Discusses the deficiencies of the nativistic explanation of language acquisition, reviews and critiques existing theories of syntax while highlighting the trend toward a semantic description of linguistic development, and argues that a satisfactory account of language acquisition will not emerge until this process is viewed within a larger…

This article uses an animate/inanimate distinction in "se" constructions in Spanish to explain how to comprehend the messages conveyed by such constructions. Depending on the verb form, the emphasis may be on the event rather than the performer, or indicate that the speaker accepts no responsibility for the event. (CHK)

Two tasks were used to test predictions of the Semantic Feature Hypothesis (SFH) about children's comprehension of the meaning of spatial adjectives. Predictions about acquisition order for dimensional features were supported; predictions about polarity were not. An acquisition hypothesis is offered that is contrary to the SFH. (Author/RM)

This paper asserts that while predicting in listening is a very important listening skill and listening habit, English language learners are often reluctant to use prediction. It recommends that teachers should work to cultivate students' predicting ability so that the students can form a natural and effective listening habit and can predict based…