Seeks to determine how consistently a sample of hearing mothers using simultaneous communication to their deaf children signed what they said. Data indicate that the difficulty of simulaneously signing and saying the message predisposes the mothers toward inconsistent simplification in the signed input which may or may not be helpful for language…

Describes a study designed to examine variables influencing the way native speakers talk to foreigners and the form native speaker modification may take. Considers five variables: (1) negotiation of meaning, (2) quantity of speech, (3) amount of repair, (4) elaborated responses, and (5) transparent responses. (SED)

Describe studies in which day-long recordings were made of nine-year-old children's spontaneous speech. Results indicate that: (1) children aged five to 15 speak some 20,000 words of discourse per day in about two to three hours of pure speaking time; (2) they have an active vocabulary of some 3,000 word-form types. (SED)

Summarizes the major findings of a study on the nature and scope of support for foreign languages by private and corporate foundations. The study identified 83 supporting foundations and 178 recipient organizations as well as 340 grants made in support of foreign language education during the 1973-84 period. (SED)

Examines children's responses to verbal instructions to place objects in, on, or under other objects according to the paradigm developed by Clark (1973). Also assesses children's comprehension of the spatial terms by asking them simply to point to objects in particular relationships without actually manipulating them. (SED)

Defines criteria to identify children's language overextensions and investigates how young children in the early stages of language acquisition rename objects analogically during a standardized play situation. Results indicate that analogic extensions are well within the capabilities of children from one year, eight months to two years, four…

Describes one child's early productions of lexical primary stress, using as a framework the following questions: (1) Is conventional stress used consistently? (2) Are there other alternatives for the placement of primary stress? (3) Does stress assignment appear to be random? (4) Does stress assignment appear to vary with spontaneous vs. imitative…

Suggests, based on a review of research, that most of the work on motivation and attitudes as they relate to second language learning do not withstand critical analysis. It is also suggested that integrated research that does not study isolated factors but attempts to account for as many factors as possible is more valuable within its understood…

Presents a case study of the babbling monologues produced by a Dutch child in the six weeks following acquisiton of the first word, which shows that this child's word production and his concurrent babbling are very much related. Concludes that word production influences the course of babbling and vice versa. (SED)

Presents three studies which examined adults' and preschoolers' sensitivity to implicit causality in interpersonal verbs. Findings suggest that the scenes concerning the causes and consequences of interpersonal events can readily be activated in the process of understanding these verbs. This finding holds true for both preschoolers and adults.…

Describes an investigation into the relationship of schizophrenic thought disorder to measures of repetition that include phrase units, proximity of repetitions, and word frequencies to determine whether such measures distinguish schizophrenics from non-schizophrenics and to what extent they are associated with certain attributes of schizophrenia,…

Describes a study that tested deaf and hearing readers' sensitivity to the morphological structure of English words by using a lexical decision (word/non-word classification) task. Results indicate that despite prelingual and profound hearing impairment, it is possible to acquire a sensitivity to the morphophonological structure of English words.…

Discusses research which suggests that language learning occurs by learning the regularities inherent in the semantic system and not by learning any regularities present in the syntax system. (EKN)

Considers question of appropriate translation of English gerund into Spanish. While English has two distinct constructions, the gerund and the clause (tensed or infinitive), Spanish has both types of clauses but no comparable use of the gerund. Suggests that English gerund be translated into Spanish not by a bare clause, but instead by the…

Attempts to explain the lack of the personal infinitive in Spanish even though such a construction exists in Portuguese. It is maintained that its use in Portuguese is one of personal style, and it is not needed nor required, as evidenced by the linguistic varieties present in the different socio-economic levels of Brazilian speech. (SL)