Describes Sentence Patterns, a software program designed to help teach sentence structure to college freshman composition students. Topics discussed include traditional teaching methods for the effective use of written language, software development, use in computer labs, and student surveys used for courseware evaluation. (LRW)

Describes the "Small Valence Lexicon," a dictionary of 461 of the most commonly used German verbs, with information about their morphosyntactic characteristics and the sentence structures in which they occur. Some of the problems faced by the authors of the dictionary in applying the valence theory to their description of verbs is discussed. (MS)

Considers the significant divergency of functions of connectives in speech from those of their counterparts in written language and points out that, because learning materials are based mainly on sentence grammars, the former functions are in the main neglected in them. (CB)

The role of cues in language acquisition was examined in three experiments. When the cue marked the phrase structure of sentences, adult subjects successfully learned syntax. When input was identical but lacked that cue, subjects failed to learn significant portions of syntax. (Author/GDC)

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)

Compares cohesive ties and chains in the good and poor essays of college freshmen. Results indicate that longer chains, greater variety of words, and greater maturity or word choice characterize good writing. (SRT)

Discusses dislocation, a construction in which one element, usually a noun, is isolated either at the beginning or at the end of a sentence while being represented in the body of the sentence by a pronoun. Discusses the place of dislocation in linguistic studies and its pedagogical implications. (SED)

Claims that in metrical prose, rhythm can convey sense or express and underline what a writer is saying, and sound can be exploited to add a strong aural element that provides pleasure to the ears over and above the pleasure given by the sense of story. (SRT)

Argues that the explanation of the use of "ser" and "estar" with locatives presented in the March 1984 issue of "Hispania" derives so directly from a theory of universal grammar because it is indicative of the explanatory adequacy of Case Grammar or of other, comparable theories of the deeper levels of linguistic structure. (SED)

Suggests that the acquisition of German syntactic patterns can be facilitated by providing 10 rules for German word order at the beginning of the first semester of instruction. The 10 rules and illustrative examples are included as well as notes on their use. Two sample student handouts are appended. (SED)

Discusses sentence diagramming as a foreign language teaching technique to graphically illustrate the interrelationship between clauses and phrases in particularly complicated scientific and technical sentences in German. The purpose of the method is to illustrate the overall structure of the sentences rather than the relationships between…

Presents a prototype of a computerized grammar kit written in PROLOG and designed for children interested in exploring language. PROLOG's advantages for building parsers, generators, translators, and question-answering systems are discussed, and a scenario of a child working on a grammar project using the kit and implementation issues are…

Discusses problems and patterns in student journalistic writing. (HOD)

Provides several typical negative sentence structures, discusses why children find them difficult, and suggests how to begin teaching them to handle negatives. (FL)

Discusses the semantics and structure of sentence adverbs, with particular reference to negation of the declarative sentence. "Nicht" is found to be not properly reckoned with sentence adverbs. By means of examples, suggestions are given about teaching foreigners the use of German adverbs. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)