In recent years, T-unit analysis has been applied in second language research to characterize the syntactic nature of linguistic input and to assess the syntactic maturity of the learners' written production. This measure has been seen to provide an objective and reliable method of determining the overall complexity of language samples. However,…

Lev Vygotsky, in his book "Thought and Language," explores the relationship between thought and language. In school, children discover that there is a code (writing) that represents words. Writing is often difficult for students because it is an abstraction in which words are replaced by images of words, it is speech without an…

Starting with a model for explaining comprehension and noncomprehension of verbal material in terms of a match/mismatch principle, this project developed a scale of language usage and explored hypotheses about how comprehension may become possible if a child does not now comprehend some particular oral or written text. Eight separate reports are…

The purposes of this study were (1) to provide a method for the quantitative study of grammatical (syntactic) structures which is coherent, systematic, and broad, yet capable of refinement to accommodate details, and (2) to search for the developmental trends in the frequency of various grammatical structures written by students of average…

The purposes of this study were to identify the attitudes and behavior of teachers in an innercity secondary school toward language in general and nonstandard grammar in particular. Responses of the 18 member English department to a content-specific questionnaire and videotapes of 12 English classes, representing a sample of all grades and tracks…

This booklet was designed for use with the textbook "Beginning Chinese," by John De Francis. It contains 23 charts, each illustrating a number of characters. The strokes of each character are numbered to indicate sequence, and small arrows indicate the direction of each stroke. (PMP)

The need for an objective index of language development has long been recognized, and various means of measuring language growth have been proposed. This study compares two of the indexes that have recently been devised for measuring language growth. Its specific purposes are (1) to examine the correlation between mean T-unit length and syntactic…

Writing samples representing argumentation, exposition, narration, and description were gathered from 52 fourth-grade pupils. Significant differences were found among the four modes of writing and among high, medium, and low ability groups, for T-unit length and clauses per T-unit; lesser differences also were found for clause length.…

Reviewed are research and literature related to language development in culturally different children, and reported are results from a study of the written language of 120 fifth grade students randomly selected from four schools that varied in racial populations. It is explained that Ss came from schools which were 96% Black, 62% Black, 30% Black,…

A study was conducted to examine syntactical development in spontaneous written language of selected preschool, kindergarten and first grade children. The two major experimental questions were: (1) Will there be development towards greater complexity in the syntax of spontaneous writing and how should it be described? (2) What transformational…

To determine if children who have been taught to read using the i.t.a. would write stories with a vocabulary more nearly approaching the variety and extent of their oral vocabulary than would children who had been taught traditional orthography (T.O.), comparisons were made between 82 experimental (i.t.a.) and 80 control (T.O.) subjects matched on…

A list of English words used most frequently in adult speech (based on "A Spoken Word Count" by Lyle V. Jones and Joseph M. Wepman) was compared to a list of words used most frequently in adult writing (based on Ernest Horn's "A Basic Writing Vocabulary, 10,000 Words Most Commonly Used in Writing"). Conclusions were that (1) word selection varies…

This report proposes that the entire basis of composition be reconsidered in terms of total communication--starting with culture (the total interaction of humans) and progressing to the recognition of writing as a symbol system valuable in expressing and ordering the self. Included in the report are discussions of (1) the relationship of written…

The problem of determining relative weights for quantity and quality in scoring foreign language speaking and writing fluency tests is studied. French speaking and writing fluency tests were administered to students of French in several schools in England. Data from these tests was analyzed to support the suggestion that scoring formulas should…

The oral and written language of 10 students expressing themselves on the same subject was observed to determine (1) whether an "oral style" could be identified and (2) what relationship existed between cognitive processes and methods of expression. Six girls and four boys were placed in two situations: an "oral" situation in…