Reports on research to develop a descriptive framework capable of revealing relevant linguistic features of aphasic speech. Spontaneous speech samples collected from aphasic and normal speakers in dyadic conversational settings and from monologic picture descriptions are transcribed; lexical, phrasal and causal elements are coded and quantified.…

Investigates the availability of syntactic cues to verb meaning. In Experiments 1-3, adult subjects' judgments of verbs' semantic similarity were compared with other adults' judgments about the syntactic properties of the same verbs. In Experiment 4, subjects paraphrased sentences formed by pairing verbs with unaccustomed sentence frames. (54…

Offers a sociolinguistic appraisal of the representation of languages (as "languages" or "dialects") in the Indian census, with special reference to the status of Maithili. Classifying Maithili as an independent language threatens the homogeneity of the "Hindi belt"; conversely, treating it as a Hindi dialect might…

Discusses the importance of conversational implicatures in cross-cultural communication and argues that the use of opened-ended questions to study such implicatures is inherently flawed. It is asserted that multiple-choice tests are better investigational devices, and an ongoing investigation of the cross-cultural interpretation of implicature…

Discusses the influences of mass media and other communication technologies on small linguistic communities using examples from the Catalan and Occitan/Aranes communities of Spain. Highlights include hardware, linguistic software, national character sets and sorting, spelling checkers, automatic translation, multilingual software, networking, and…

Discusses the evaluation of bilingual education programs, surveys the results of seven bilingual education evaluations, and presents their diverse findings. Argues that such research cannot say whether bilingual education is good or works. Describes a "bilingual immersion" program where language minority and majority students learn from…

Summaries of six language-related research projects are presented from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Topics include reading proficiency evaluation instruments, computer-assisted language learning, English-for-Special-Purposes instructional design, editing strategies for college English-as-a-Second-Language student compositions, genre…

A discussion of multilingualism in the European context looks at various topics, including the origins of multilingualism, value judgments about foreign languages and multilingualism, current trends, language contact and mixture, human potential for multilingualism, simultaneous and consecutive language acquisition, individual needs for different…

Examined the influence of input and interactional modifications on second-language acquisition, assigning 41 learners of Japanese to 1 of 3 experimental groups: (1) unmodified input with no interaction; (2) premodified input with no interaction; and (3) unmodified input with the chance for negotiated input. Results indicated that comprehension was…

Drawing from experiences in teaching kindergarten teachers in Saudi Arabia to conduct "sharing time" or "show and tell" sessions, discusses the activity's affective and cognitive value, indicating that teacher and peer feedback promotes language development and the growth of curiosity and inquisitiveness. Makes practical…

Second and fourth graders and college students categorized one- and two-syllable words. Categorization response times for second graders were related to the number of letters in one-syllable words. Second and fourth graders had longer categorization times than college students for four-letter, two-syllable words. (BC)

A study investigated the lexical knowledge of 40 Turkish-Dutch bilingual children aged 9 and 11 years and living in the Netherlands. Results indicate important differences between available lexical knowledge in the first language (L1) and second language (L2); children allot to L1 words less extensive and less varied meaning aspects than to L2…

Children with specific language impairments (eight learning Italian, eight learning English as a first language) were studied for grammatical deficits. Italian-speakers used noun inflections, verb inflections, copula forms more than English-speaking counterparts, matched by utterance length. Articles were used similarly. Results were consistent…

Analyzes the use of imperatives in five scholarly journal articles (main text and notes) in each of ten disciplines, and follow-up interviews with authors using imperatives within main text indicate specific patterns and purposes of usage and field-specific expectations and conventions. Discusses implications for instruction of non-native-speaking…

A former graduate student of linguist Ann M. Johns describes briefly her career and contributions, both published and personal, to the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Her teaching, research, publications, and the specific emphases and approaches in her work are highlighted. (MSE)