In this course text on second language acquisition, the latest research of Halle and Chomsky, Lenneberg, Hatch, Larsen-Freeman, Dulay and Burt, and Krashen is presented. The text covers such topics as the effects of environment, age, and personality on second language acquisition; the role of the first language; and error analysis. Enough has been…

Documented sex differences in speech and their significance are considered. The research literature on sex-differentiated speech reveals the influence of sex-role stereotypes and assumptions about the relation of speech to sex-differentiated socialization. The more substantiated differences form three clusters: (1) the production of esteemed…

Many classics in children's literature have metaphoric structures that enhance the structure of the plot. Metaphor is not an added frill to creative writing, nor is it the private province of poets. It is a necessary part of everyday language. One viewpoint on metaphor can be found in studies on child language acquisition. Children do use…

The research of W. O'Barr and B. K. Atkins found that the use of "women's language" features--the use of tag questions, interrogative intonation, sex-specific vocabulary, hedges and fillers, empty adjectives, and hypercorrect grammar; the inability to tell jokes; and the tendency to use fewer expletives than men--was associated more with…

This paper inquires analytically about the connotative meaning of the terms poverty and learning as they function in the language of comparative education research. In the analysis of concepts, the analytical techniques used are the techniques of definition, explication, illustration, and substitution. Four conceptions of the term learning and…

This paper studies meaning as a construct of human interaction. Basic to this approach is the concept of the act of communication, which may be realized verbally or non-verbally. In order to integrate non-verbal behaviors into descriptions of discourse and interaction, a series of functional, not anatomic, categories is needed. For the kinesic…

Separate listings of both ongoing and completed reading research in Great Britain between 1974 and 1977--including relevant language studies and research on spelling--are arranged alphabetically by researcher, reporting the research title, the institution at which the research was conducted, the years started and completed, and the type of…

This study develops an information model based on the processes involved in reading and listening as a step toward constructing a single framework for understanding both these skills. Assuming that analogous structures and processes occur in reading and listening, similar experimental questions are asked in both areas. The model incorporates data…

This paper attempts a brief account of recent trends in interlanguage studies. Interlanguage may be defined as a separate linguistic system which results from a learner's attempted production of a target language norm. According to the recreation hypothesis, this is a dynamic system of increasing complexity, whereas, according to the restructuring…

Recent research by Valette, Oller, and others has shown the utility of dictation as a measure of general language competence when correlated with achievement and proficiency batteries for French and English as a second language. No such studies have been conducted with Spanish. The investigator hypothesized that since Spanish is a phonetic…

The relationship between children's knowledge of particular situations and their comprehension of stories about them was investigated. Children in kindergarten and grades two, four, and six heard stories about differentially familiar situations and then answered questions. "Scripts," characterizing knowledge about stereotypical events, were…

This paper begins with a review of recent studies of the development of phonology, syntax, and semantics between the ages of five and twelve. Studies in pragmatics (or the functions of language) are also considered. The paper then turns from investigations of oral language acquisition to an examination of the interplay between oral and written…

The purpose of this study was to gather information on the acquisition of non-Indo-European languages. The field work was conducted in the village of Faleasao on the island of Ta'u in the Manu'a group of American Samoa from June, 1968 to June, 1969. The data collected consists primarily of tape recordings of naturally occurring and elicited speech…

This report is the outcome of an attempt to relate what may be called the "Le Pagean view of competence" to a linguistic community very different from that which gave rise to the concept. While upholding the general principles, the paper contends that the methodology elaborated for work in fluid creole communities may not be universally…

This paper examines children's early attempts at describing events absent in space and time, referred to as the "reportative function." The first part of the paper offers some explanations for the late emergence of the reportative function in young children's speech. Part two presents examples of children's attempts to report past events…