A study based on two hypotheses: (1) The cognitive and academic effects of bilingualism are mediated by the levels of competence attained in the first and second languages, and (2) the development of skills in a second language is a function of skills already developed in the first language. (AMH)

Research at Queens College involving 116 English as a second language students revealed that proficiency in English, measured by a variety of tests, is more closely related to amount of formal instruction than to years spent in an English-speaking country, although a significant relationship exists between proficiency and each factor. (CFM)

Examines telephone discourse of twenty children between two and five years of age for answerer rules, turn-taking, constructional units, conversational acts, closing sequence, and ability to take messages. Shows developmental differences, although mastery of discourse skills appeared only in response categories, and primarily at four and five…

Summarizes five theories explaining the relationship between word knowledge and comprehension of text in native language acquisition and explores possible implications for second language researchers and practitioners. (Author/CB)

A total of 43 studies, involving 1,703 subjects with a mean age of 6:11, were analyzed to assess the effectiveness of language intervention with language/learning disabled children. Results suggested that the average language-disordered child moved from the 50th percentile to the 85th as a result of language intervention. (Author/JDD)

A review of research leads to the proposal that infants' perception of "fragile" contrasts is lost due to their lack of exposure to particular sounds. Perception of "robust" contrasts is lost around the onset of formal language training due to children's lack of experience with phonologically irrelevant sounds. (Author/CB)

Reports results of the impact of various language structures, such as transactive and nontransactive clauses, on readers' understanding of events depicted in newspapers. (PD)

Argues that the adequacy of pidgins and creoles as expressive instruments requires systematic empirical research. This research would be based on two sound approaches: a macro-survey of language resources and a micro-analysis of language samples. (CB)

Provides longitudinal observations of young children's behaviors while viewing television in their own homes when the children were actively involved in the process of language acquisition. The observations show an overwhelming and consistent occurrence of language-related behaviors among children and parents in the viewing situation. (Author/SED)

Reports an experimental investigation of the influence of linguistic factors on linguistic performance. The factors studied were interpretive complexity and surface length. Results show an interaction between types of linguistic complexity and type of linguistic performance. (Author/SED)

Describes a study which measures the threshold of second language reading competence and explains its nature. Results indicate that the threshold is reflected in a 65-70% score on the reading section of the First Certificate of English exam and that the most important element for text interpretation is vocabulary. (SED)

Contains annotations describing research conducted in the following areas: writing (contexts, status surveys, instruction, processes, text analysis, assessment, rhetoric, writing and learning), language (processing, development, interrelationships, language and schooling), literature, and teacher education. (HOD)

Investigates second grade children's ability to understand the use of deictic terms (devices in language that convey information about the communicative situation) in three types of tasks: oral language, written language, and picture selection, and concludes that the difficulty of a word with deictic content depends largely upon the discourse…

Describes research studies that relate to writing instruction, writing processes, language development, literature, and English teacher education. (HOD)

Examines the consequences of powerful and powerless speech styles in a hypothetical job interview by investigating the effects of seven linguistic features. Found, for example, that hesitations and tags were judged relatively powerless, ineffective, and unlikely to fulfill the communicator's intentions while polite linguistic forms and…