Argues, with a theoretical focus, that evidence of cross-linguistic influences on language use can and ought to be enlisted in second language (L2) attrition research to clean up "spontaneous speech data." Notes that since L2 attrition researchers have little control over the content of the spontaneous speech data they use, they need the…

An exploration of the increasingly important role of linguistics in literacy research and instruction reviews literature on reading comprehension, written language, orthography, metalinguistics, classroom language use, reading disabilities, native tongues, nonstandard dialects, bilingual education, adult literacy, and second-language reading. (86…

Examined miscommunication episodes occurring between 2.5-year-olds and their parents during videotaped free play sessions. Although children generally responded appropriately in form to parental clarification requests, they responded more often to and resolved successfully more of those following their own requests than those following their…

Summarizes the findings of a project that investigated the use of learning strategies by foreign language students and their teachers, and suggests classroom applications for learning strategy instruction. The project identified the differences in strategy use among effective and ineffective language learners and the ways in which teachers could…

Examines a code mixed variety of English and Hindi called Filmi English, which reflects the linguistic influence of the Indian film industry. A corpus of more than 2,000 intrasentential code-mixed sentences drawn from a film magazine, "Stardust," is analyzed. (Author/OD)

Examines code mixing and borrowing across two generations of New York Puerto Ricans, and explores the possibility of existence of a lifecycle of language use in the community. (26 references) (Author/OD)

Assesses verb phrase development in three Trinidadian children in which Standard English and Trinidad Creole coexist. Adverbials were found to be crucial in delineating specific areas of semantic intent. (20 references) (GLR)

Examines the use and function of Chinese discourse particles in informal speech in Singaporean English, comparing the intonation and pitch movement of native varieties of English to Singaporean English. (Author/OD)

Reports on research into the interactive roles played in the verbal comprehension processes by the sequence of textual elements, text-specific prior knowledge, and levels of language proficiency. Four cloze tests were administered to undergraduate and graduate native speakers of English and to undergraduate non-native speakers of English at three…

Assessment of the English writing proficiency of 23 native French speaking students on 3 composition tasks found variance in the qualities of written texts and problem-solving behaviors. Writing expertise was found to affect discourse organization and content, writing complexity, heuristic strategies, and control strategies, while second-language…

Current research supports the notion that language users make both unconscious and conscious choices when accommodating their language for public use, incorporating regional and social distinctions as well as notions of correctness and acceptability. Such decisions occur at the level of communicative competence and become part of the communicative…

The results of a research project designed to study possible uses of the computer in the language arts classroom, and to identify the effect on children's cognitive and linguistic development are presented. Subjects were 22 second graders who used two different software programs (Storia Chiusa and Storia Aperta) to complete stories. (CFM)

Examined English compositions written from plans in English and Turkish by Turkish university students from two different proficiency levels. The study investigated whether there were differences between plans written in Turkish and English and the resulting compositions that correlate with the topic and proficiency level, and whether there were…

Discusses the concept of language immersion programs in the European context, then focuses on the current trend in Finnish schools to "see what these programs are like." The article concludes with a discussion about the inevitable problems and challenges related to immersion programs. (JL)

Examined the use by children of the Novel Name-Nameless Category principle, under the framework that lexical principles are acquired in a developmental sequence. Results indicated that the particular principle was not available at the start of lexical acquisition but that exhaustive categorization ability and a vocabulary spurt occur…