This is a study of three contiguous generations of the extended families of Olivo and Atilano that emigrated from Central Mexico to Illinois. The general purpose of the investigation is to describe the development of the home language (Spanish) in an emigrant environment by concentrating on the generation as a transitional stage. In particular,…

A detailed analysis of an Italian-American woman's speech is presented, and her interlanguage patterns are discussed in relation to a pidginization hypothesis. Data are presented on the following speech characteristics of the woman: free speech negatives, interrogatives, and present and past tense constructions. Her language is shown to be…

A survey of the substance of linguistics and of the activities of linguists is presented in an attempt to acquaint ordinary readers with the various aspects of la"guage. A discussion of the human tendency toward speech, of the traits of language, and of phonetic elements prepares the way for an analysis of the structure of languag e in terms of…

The approaches of traditional grammar, descriptive linguistics, and generative grammar are largely complementary rather than exclusive. Traditional grammar defines eight parts of speech according to meaning or function and concerns itself almost wholely with the written language. Descriptive linguistics postulates that English has a set of unique…

The Gallup-McKinley County Schools developed this curriculum guide in an attempt to aid teachers involved in teaching English as a second language to Spanish speaking students and students of Indian descent. The guide provides a brief description of the value systems of the three ethnic groups--Spanish American, Zuni, and Navajo. A phonetic…

This dissertation is an attempt to characterize the notion "exception to a rule of grammar" within the context of Chomsky's conception of grammar as given in "Aspects of the Theory of Syntax." This notion depends on a prior notion of "rule government"--in each phrase marker on which a transformational rule may…

The manual gives vocabulary and sentence patterns which are considered basic or essential to medical personnel who work with Spanish-speaking patients. In most instances, only one way is given to express an idea or to ask a question. Sentence patterns and vocabulary that should be made active are repeated many times. The manual includes (1)…

Examples of the spontaneous speech in French of native English speakers, average age 7.6 years, were collected at the end of their second year in a French immersion program. Results show that the native language strongly influences second language speech production. While vocabulary and pronunciation are of course predominantly French, the…

This report contains an extensive discussion of an approach to the study of discourse. Initial remarks concern arguments for studying discourse and approaches for discourse study that have been used; the author then discusses the relationship of discourse analysis and generative semantics. Language is considered on two issues: the decisions that a…

Four tests--PPVT, ITPA, MRT, WPPSI--commonly used to measure language development in young children are evaluated by four criteria: (1) what development aspects do they claim to tap; (2) what do they actually tap; (3) what linguistic knowledge is presupposed; (4) what special problems face a non-standard English speaker. These tests are considered…

Five position papers resulting from a conference on the teaching of FLES discuss recent theory about elementary education and are intended to initiate a dialogue among teachers of foreign languages directed toward the exploration of ways and means of managing educational change. The report suggests how a broader rationale and a new curriculum base…

FLES programs are generally viewed from the vertical dimension, as the beginning classes in a continuing language program. This paper treats the horizontal dimension, the interrelationship of the foreign language program with other curricula such as literature, history, and language arts. Three current trends in language arts have implications for…

Local increases in fundamental frequency (Fo) and large integrals of energy in the syllabic nucleus are known to be among the best acoustical correlates of stress. Major syntactic constituents have been shown to have archetype rapid-rise-then-gradual-fall Fo contours, with the rise into the maximum Fo often associated with the first stressed…

Acoustical correlates of stress can only be evaluated in comparison with some "standard" specifying which syllables are actually stressed. The Standard should be consistent from time to time, and largely independent of talker and listener idiosyncrasies. Three phonetically-trained subjects listened to repeatedly spoken texts and spontaneous…

The distinction between artifact and tool is introduced into the study of language diversity and the posting of linguistic universals. A complicating factor in all language investigations is the use of language as the chief tool to create new language. Analogy and metaphor are considered as two major creative forces at work in all languages.…