Spanish voiced stops /b,d,g/ exhibit [+continuant] allophonic variants in phonetic environments that vary across modern speech varieties. It is argued here that variation in voiced stops and spirants continues to be associated very directly with physical factors in speech production as circumscribed by five phonetic correlates of spoken language…

Analysis of English articles use patterns found the definite article (DA) used far less than in other European languages. Generic DA use is rare in English, generally only used where the head noun has already been referred to or is contextually unique. Otherwise, the indefinite article, a possessive, or plural of the noun without an article must…

Three studies examined linguistic factors influencing preschooler's phonemic awareness task performance. Results indicated no performance differences between fricatives and stops. Subjects were more likely to mistakenly judge that syllables began with a target phoneme when the initial phoneme differed from the target only in voicing than when it…

Rejects the "etymological fallacy" theory, which seeks to minimize the role of etymology in the study of semantics, arguing that etymology represents a perfectly coherent philosophy of language, given that linguistic change is a legitimate source of anxiety for any culture founded on laws or sacred texts, whether oral or written. (MSE)

Illustrates the significant contribution journal writing can make to deepening researchers' understanding of all facets of the research processes. Argues that such journals can provide other researchers with illuminating insight into the research process. (Author/VWL)

Provides an overview of the current themes and research directions in second language motivation research. Argues that the initial research inspiration and standard-setting empirical work on second language motivation originating from Canada has borne fruit by educating a new generation of international scholars who have created a colorful mixture…

Reviews recent research that investigates second language performance from the perspective of sentence processing (on-line comprehension studies) and word recognition. Concentrates on describing methods that employ reaction time measures as correlates of processing difficulty or knowledge representation. (Author/VWL)

Discusses personal narratives of subjects with Alzheimer's disease and their spouses. Notes that solo narratives were gathered from patients and spouses separately, and then joint narratives were gathered. Compares patients' ability to provide settings in their solo narrative to their ability to supply information when prompted by spouses. Finds…

Explores whether speakers choose spatial perspectives to minimize effort. Discusses an experiment in which speakers describe locations on a display for addressees who shared their vantage point or had different views. Finds that same-viewpoint speakers spoke differently from speakers with offset views, who did not differ from each other reliably,…

Argues that the traditional basis for selection of objects for ethnographic study is unsystematic and largely intuitive. The solution is to ground the selection aspect of ethnographic practice in either universal pragmatics or conversational structure. (Contains 70 references) (JP)

Discusses how the talking drum has been a viable cultural voice for many West and Central African cultures in the acquisition of literacy. Emphasizes musical character of tonal languages and the use of the talking drum for literacy purposes. Proposes research questions regarding function and use of music and language; describes role of the talking…

Argues that the null preposition phenomenon is a special case of reliance on the A-bar binding strategy, examining research on English-French interlanguage in college classrooms and suggesting that apparent categorical mismatches in A-bar chains may result from preposition incorporation. Second-language learners can appeal to the A-bar binding…

Summarizes a range of theoretical approaches to language acquisition. Argues that language representations emerge from interactions at all levels from brain to society. Connectionism, which provides a set of computational tools for exploring the conditions under which emergent properties arise, is discussed, and simulations of emergence of…

Examines claims and assumptions of theory of "government phonology," using as a starting point a monograph on phonological government in Japanese, in which the theory is applied to a range of phonological and morphological data. Main theoretical concepts in the theory are introduced and critically discussed, and connections to other theories of…

Attempts to stimulate theoretical thinking and empirical research in the domain of second language vocabulary learning by introducing a construct of involvement with motivational and cognitive dimensions: Need, Search, and Evaluation. Reviews a number of constructs that are currently debated and investigated in the literature on cognitive and…