The process of getting a thought out of the mind and onto paper can be divided into five major categories: (1) discovering the word, (2) excavating the mythic word from the subconscious, (3) perceiving the word in the conscious, (4) verbalizing the expressed word, and (5) comprehending the unsaid word. When humans experience anything, their minds…

Knowledge and application of basic general semantics principles when interviewing the bereaved can heighten social sensitivity, reduce misinterpretations, and minimize misevaluations. General semantics is concerned with the need to make transformations between sensory input and language output more isomorphic. It is an attempt to produce the best…

An investigation is conducted into the hypothesized notion of the interlanguage system and its effect on language transfer. The interlanguage system is composed of: internal factors (syntax, semantics, and phonology); external factors (sociological and psychological); and the typology of the native language. The investigation looks into: (1)…

To test the claim that verbs consistently occur in particular illocutionary contexts and that illocutionary context thus should be included in models of early verb meanings, a Dutch-speaking child participated in a naturalistic case study in his home, as he grew between the ages of two and three years. The researcher taped the child's interactions…

This sourcebook contains an organized series of lesson plans for remediating pragmatic problems in adolescents and students of English as a second language (ESL). Introductory material describes the concept and development of pragmatics (the ability to use language as a tool), provides an observation checklist for clinicians to use in identifying…

A study examined the efficacy of the keyword method of vocabulary instruction by comparing it with five methods designed to increase semantic processing of the definitions of the vocabulary words. Subjects in all five experiments were college students. In the first three experiments, recall of the definitions from the vocabulary words was the…

By analyzing the lexicology of natural language (English or other languages as they are commonly spoken or written), as compared to computer languages, this study explored the extent to which syntactic and semantic levels of linguistic analysis can be implemented and effectively used on microcomputers. In Phase I of the study, the Apple IIe with…

A doctoral dissertation on general clitic theory and Finnish particle clitics in particular looks at the mixed linguistic status of clitics and proposes that they are not as mysterious as reported, but should be viewed either as bound words (bound lexemes) or phrasal affixes. An initial chapter introduces the Finnish particle clitics and their…

Accurate communication of empathy by a counselor may facilitate client self-exploration which, in turn, is necessary for positive outcome. To study the effects of counselor empathic response on client self-exploration, two doctoral level counseling psychology students had one 45-minute interview with each of two college student clients. Counselors…

An overview of values education is outlined. The semantic problems relating to the language of values/character education are identified, and some of the extant philosophical postures and controversies are sketched. Semantic issues relate to the interrelationships among the terms "values,""morals," and "ethics" as…

The difference between acquiring knowledge of a word's meaning and knowing a word well enough for it to aid in the comprehension of a text is investigated by reviewing the most recent findings in the field of vocabulary acquisition. The assumption that vocabulary items are learned through context when the meaning of unknown words can be gleaned…

Superordinates in Halliday and Hasan's analysis of cohesion are lexical items which refer to preceding terms, ideas, or actions, or to whole stretches of discourse, by naming a more inclusive category or class within which the antecedent is included. In written texts the interrelationships between superordinates and more specific terms, or…

A model for adult language learning is developed based on the postulates that language is semiotic, contextual, communicative, and cultural. Research in psycholinguistics has discovered that a cognitive and recognitional knowledge of language underlies and is greater than performative language. The move from the first level, the semantic base, to…

A study examined hierarchical relationships among three developmental components of reading ability in grades 1 through 3. It was predicted that semantic skills develop initially, followed by letter identification skills, phonological skills, and visual skills. Reading ability was assessed with a word identification task. The semantic components…

There are at least four distinct uses of the term "competence" in speech communication: (1) to refer to some set of standards used in evaluating aspects of communication processes, (2) to refer to some set of objects to be evaluated, (3) to refer to a method for evaluating aspects of communication against some standard, and (4) to refer to a…