Reports on grammaticality judgments by early learners of a second language (Italian). The data, contrary to what might be assumed, point to no relationship between intuition and performance for L2 Learners. Data concerning advanced learners may prove to be more valid. (34 references) (LET)

Phonological sensitivity was examined in 238 children ages two to five years from middle-to-upper-income families and 118 children from lower-income families across different levels of linguistic complexity. Overall, results indicated an increase in phonological sensitivity with age, as well as increasing stability and significant social class…

Three experiments investigated the nature of productive forward linking (from semantics to syntax) and productive reverse linking (from syntax to semantics) in language-impaired children. Found that the normally developing control subjects showed a good use of productive forward and reverse linking, whereas the language-impaired subjects…

Fifteen children (grades 3-5) with specific language impairment (SLI) were asked to define 10 common nouns. Children with SLI scored significantly lower than children with typically developing language for both content and form. Results suggest that lexical access and/or lack of metalinguistic knowledge were potential causes for the lower scores…

It is commonly accepted that phonology is the exclusive domain of the left hemisphere. However, this pattern of lateralization, which posits a right visual field advantage, has been questioned by several studies. In fact, certain factors such as characteristics of the stimuli and subjects' handedness can modulate the right visual field advantage.…

This book contains a collection of current research in the development of speech perception and perceptual learning. The collection integrates research involving infants, young children, and adults, and explores systematically how adult perceptual abilities develop from early infant capabilities, focusing particularly on the nature of transitional…

The oral interaction hypothesis, proposed by Long and investigated by Pica, in second language (L2) acquisition is critiqued. The interaction hypothesis advances two major claims about the role of interaction in L2 acquisition: (1) comprehensible input is necessary for L2 acquisition; and (2) modifications to the interactional structure of…

The TOEFL was taken by 159 non-native speakers of English in Tehran, Iran, who also took a cloze test and two dictations. Results revealed that Listening Comprehension, cloze and dictation were more highly correlated with each other, and with the remaining parts of the TOEFL, than the latter were with each other. (Author/KM)

The use of placement tests can discriminate against people with linguistic styles differing from the population used to norm the test, resulting in significantly lessening both achievement and expectations for many people. (EH)

Preschool children were tested on their comprehension of the comparatives, "taller,""shorter,""more," and "less" in five types of sentences. Results suggest that many children can understand two-dimensional comparisons, but perform poorly on second-clause subjects pronoun sentences because of uncertainty about the referent of the pronoun. (SDH)

Control of standard dialect necessary to school learning; students need to be trained in choosing appropriate speech styles for different contexts. (JH)

Paper presented May 1973, Dresden, East Germany. (DD)

This paper describes a computational approach to certain problems of anaphora in natural language and argues in favor of formal meaning representation languages (MRLs) for natural language. After presenting arguments in favor of formal meaning representation languages, appropriate MRLs are discussed. Minimal requirements include provisions for…

Two exploratory experiments compared the way people with no experience in the use of computer systems write and carry out natural language procedures, natural language descriptions, and instructions expressed in an artificial restricted syntax language. The results suggest the there is no single "natural" way that people write simple plans and…

It is important in beginning reading instruction to let the child guess at unknown words, allowing the context to provide feedback. (JH)