Investigated two methods of segmenting text based upon phrase boundaries in an attempt to make social studies textbooks more readable for elementary school students. Concludes that phrasing the passages for students improved their reading comprehension by approximately one grade level. (FL)

Presents data which indicate that the language learning capability of adolescents and adults who are acquiring a second language differs from that of children who are acquiring their native language. Discusses consequences for second-language teaching methodology. (EKN)

The effect on reading comprehension of manipulating the degree of sentence combining in a passage was assessed for college students and eighth graders. It was found that lower readability level material, as measured by common readability formulas, does not facilitate comprehension for either group, and may actually impede it. (Author/MSE)

Advances a theoretical perspective for analyzing education and instructional technology as disciplines using the science of semiotics as a framework for identifying the components, relationships among components, and meanings of components in educational systems. A 30-item reference list accompanies the text. (Author/JL)

The sentence structure in 64 academic journals representing the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering was examined to determine (1) what structures are common to all academic writing, (2) the range of variation within academic writing, and (3) the extent to which sentence structure differs in the academic areas. (HOD)

Presents a schema for analyzing student writing on three levels: (1) the sentence from the perspective of syntactic maturity; (2) the text, an attempt to examine what affects a text's cohesion; and (3) discourse, the text considered for its efficacy and appropriateness. (AMH)

Five- and seven-year-old English and Spanish speaking children were tested on short term memory, perceptual matching, and referential communication tasks to determine the relationship between linguistic coordination and language group. English speakers had significantly lower performance on the communication and perceptual tasks. (Author/APM)

Describes a study undertaken to assess interference from two languages for learners of French. Suggests that susceptibility to interference is related to a number of factors, such as level of proficiency in the target language, and the degree and type of similarity between the target and the base language. (MES)

Black English is a linguistic system which has a phonological base in West African languages. It has been influenced by various other languages. The containment of Blacks in ghettos has worked toward preserving Black English. (Author/MC)

The relationship between writing and reading linking prescriptive and contrastive rhetoric, textual discourse analysis, ESP text research, and psycholinguistics and reading is examined. The chief axioms stressed for writers are planning and using discourse devices. How these can be translated into reading strategies is demonstrated. (PMJ)

The syntactic distribution and behavior of five English and Persian "measure" nouns and their adjectives are compared. From this, errors attributable to transference and those due to inconsistencies in English are enumerated. A unified analytic model of Persian errors in learning English suggests useful teaching strategies. (PMJ)

Illustrates variation affecting the position of pronouns in complex verb phrases among native French speakers. Describes the methods used to verify the hypothesis that there exists a correlation between individual hesitation and lack of consensus in the community. Analyzes data from questionnaires administered to 551 persons in Switzerland and…

Reviews literature in applied linguistic and reading methodology and outlines a suffix-grammar as it is used in a reading course in Latin. The principles of the grammar are discussed and an example of its application in the reading course is given. (Author/AMH)

Examines the relationship between syntactic complexity and quality ratings of narrative and argumentative writing of students in grades 6, 10, and 12. (HOD)

Examines the innate faculties that underlie linguistic competence, especially syntactic competence, and proposes a theory of these faculties which accounts for the complexities of language and the evolution of human language. (AM)