Presents data which indicate that the language learning capability of adolescents and adults who are acquiring a second language differs from that of children who are acquiring their native language. Discusses consequences for second-language teaching methodology. (EKN)

Evaluates the intelligibility of computer speech (Supertalker, Codec) by having 47 Australian children, ages six-seven, identify speech sounds in isolation, as initial sound in words, and as final sounds in words. Since Codec more closely approximates normal speech, it is recommended for computer-assisted instruction with beginning readers.…

Graffiti analysis is an important means of understanding social and cultural realities at a given moment of a community's existence, realities that the media often treat only in generalizations. Comparisons of graffiti between places, periods, languages, and subjects may be revealing. (MSE)

Offers suggestions, exercises, and resources for teaching students how to study and appreciate language. (RL)

This study investigates the language employed by classroom teachers. Results reveal a strong tendency toward the use of sexist language by elementary and secondary teachers and suggest, that through intervention techniques, the use of sexist language can be substantially reduced. (PD)

Investigates sentence processing in a visual-gestural language by testing signers' recognition for American Sign Language sentences. Results indicate that signers decompose a complex sign into its lexical and inflectional components during sentence comprehension and remember the meaning expressed by these components rather than remembering the…

The author examines the precedent set in the King v Ann Arbor case as a tool to reform the miseducation of Black children. She also details some linguistic and sociocultural aspects of the controversy over whether Black English is a language or a dialect. (SK)

Describes an experiment designed to investigate the characteristics of speech addressed to children and to determine if they are distinctive enough to be perceived as a special register. Explains how evidence for specialness was found in the judgments of observers exposed to messages addressed to different categories of listeners, including…

Black English is a linguistic system which has a phonological base in West African languages. It has been influenced by various other languages. The containment of Blacks in ghettos has worked toward preserving Black English. (Author/MC)

Attempts to demonstrate the strategies used by the second language learner in deciphering unfamiliar linguistic material. (AM)

Questions the value of the theory of interlanguage for language learning research. (AM)

Examines the differential use of formal explicit knowledge and intuitive implicit knowledge in a second language grammaticality judgement tasks. (Author/AM)

The forms and functions of nonverbal gestures accompanying verbal directives in the free play of three children were examined. Results showed that gestures supplement verbal communication and increase in complexity with age, supporting the viewpoint that language develops as a social and cognitive skill. (PMJ)

A distinctive feature analysis of consonant phoneme production in Arabic, Farsi, Japanese, and Spanish is reported. The analysis is based on a model incorporating psychometrics and on one producing a three-point system for the features of place, manner, and voicing. Implications for teaching pronounciation are discussed. (PMJ)

Describes some of the difficulties involved in conducting language evaluation tests in Edinburgh, Scotland. Reports some results of a pilot study. (RL)