The present experiment with retarded and normal readers was designed to test comprehension across major segmental boundaries, an aspect of syntax raised by generative grammars, and to relate the comprehension problem to other correlates of reading retardation by choosing a problem in which ordering strategies may be adopted. (Author/KC)

Obstacles confronting deaf students in language development are considered. American Sign Language is distinguished from English in terms of grammar, inflection and syntax, and context. The impact of deafness on language acquisition and cognitive development is examined. The importance of auditory feedback and verbal reinforcement is emphasized.…

Discusses the generative phonology model for the Lithuanian definite adjective, showing its inadequacy as a model of speaker competence. Suggests that if P Rules must be proposed to derive surface alternations of autonomous phonemes, then syntax is at least "being" replaced by morphology. (Executive Office of the AABS, 231 Miller Rd., Mahwah, NJ…

Reading in the hearing impaired student is considered in terms of syntax, semantics, pragmatics, processes, and developmental programing. (SB)

Comprehension and strategy use of 18 autistic children was compared with that of normal 3- and 4-year olds. Subjects were asked to act out certain syntactic and semantic patterns in two experiments. Autistic children performed below the levels of the normal subjects, suggesting that autism is a semantic/cognitive deficit. (PJM)

Minor grammatical errors made by German students in translating from English to German led to an investigation of the means available in the two languages for effecting text-coherence. The examples cited indicate that English has fewer possibilities than German for showing sentence perspective through surface-syntactical markers. (IFS/WGA)

A study of the effects of clause order and explicitness on comprehension of reversible causal relationships revealed that, for fifth graders, explicit-condition groups had a higher level of comprehension of causal relationships than did implicit-condition groups. For college students, both explicitness and clause order were significant factors in…

Describes a model that distinguishes seven types of meaning that can function in reading: discoursal, lexical, morphological, propositional, syntactic, rhetorical, and functional. (MKM)

The complex of factors governing mood choice in Spanish is reexamined. Mood choice is determined by the basic semantic values expressing the content of an utterance. The influence of comment, reaction, emotions, doubt, and uncertainty on mood choice are explored. (PMJ)

Originally part of a symposium on educational media for the deaf, the paper describes the efforts of the Caption Center at television station WGBH to caption the television production "The scarlet Letter." Among the challenges for the captioners working on the project were the complex syntax and archaic vocabulary and difficulty in the…

Results supported the hypothesis that the reading difficulties of hearing impaired children are due to syntactic deficit rather than inadequate word recognition or knowledge of word meanings. (Author)

The modal "should" can be taught by first delineating its meaning of "good advice," then proceeding to its meaning as expressing the speaker's sense of duty, propriety, and expediency, and finally dealing with its meaning of "reasonable expectation." The elements of "must" implicit in "should"…

Studies, using Mandarin Chinese as a test case: (1) the interaction of syntax and semantics when quantifiers and negatives co-occur; (2) the linear interpretation of quantifiers when the universal and existential quantifiers co-occur; (3) the logical relationship between them; and (4) the basic word order of existential sentences involving…

While self-paced instruction works well at earlier stages of Latin language learning, it becomes ineffective at intermediate levels. Latin students are expected to read continuous prose by the third or fourth term. Classroom instruction is better for the transition from syntax and grammar to reading, where group effort reinforces learning. (PJM)

The justification for Kean's (EJ 165 107) analysis of agrammatism as a phonological disorder rests on a certain specific theory of the structure of human language faculty, which is summarized. Simply proposing a competing analysis based on a distinct theory does not falsify the hypotheses. However, Kean's claims are subject to empirical…