Verbal analogical reasoning tasks are described as potentially valuable in the assessment and management of subtle linguistic defects less easily detected by standardized language tests. Semantic and structural factors that should be considered in the development of verbal analogies as test items are cited, as well as adaptations for nonreaders.…

The relationships of spelling achievement to rote learning, rule learning, and self-evaluated spelling ability were investigated. A questionnaire, a structure task which produced a measure of rote learning and rule learning, and the Wide Range Achievement Test (Spelling) were administered to 50 college students. (Author/PN)

Uses techniques of the study of conversational analysis in oral language in the study of American Sign Language conversations, and concludes that such conversations are structured in ways that parallel those of spoken language. (FL)

As an optional movement, "scrambling" in Japanese has been one of the major obstacles to the Minimalist Program, in which movements occur only when necessary. One theorist has argued, in an attempt to accommodate this phenomenon to the Minimalist Program, that verb phrase-adjunction scrambling should be analyzed as base-generated constructions and…

This handbook offers a detailed description of the structure and rhetorical effects observed in various genres of Japanese discourse. Drawing on Japanese "bunshooron" and incorporating results of Western discourse studies, the book covers principles of overall rhetorical organization, including"ki-shoo-ten-ketsu," topic structure, "danraku," and…

Since the 1996 Oakland School Board decision regarding the use of Ebonics as a tool of instruction, opinions have clashed over whether Ebonics is a separate language or merely a dialect of English. Called Black Vernacular English (BVE) in the 1960s and 70s, African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in the 1980s and 90s, (called…

Translation can be useful in teaching advanced students to make decisions about structure, assess the communicative consequences of those decisions, assess perceptions of language contrasts, and increase feelings for communicative appropriateness. Two methods are suggested: word-for-word or "spoof" translation, and back translation. (Author/MSE)

The duration and timing of the context is which letters occur is shown to influence the perceptibility of the target in experiments demonstrating that early on enhanced word presentations and pronounceable-pseudoword contexts increase letter perceptibility. The perceptibility of letters in strings sharing several or few letters with words is…

An investigation of word-by-word time-course of spoken language understanding focused on word recognition and structural and interpretative processes. Results supported an online interactive language processing theory, in which lexical, structural, and interpretative knowledge sources communicate and interact during processing efficiently and…

Compares the language usage of a working-class couple and a small-town mayor. Uses a Marxian rhetorical perspective to connect language styles and class distinctions. Considers the educational implications of this connection. (RL)

Proposes that dialogue provides children with opportunities to participate with adults in creating linguistic relationships of which they would be incapable alone. Reports the findings of a study of dialogues between mothers and their young children. (FL)

It is argued that informed judgments by a thoughtful teacher may have advantages over the application of a readability formula in assessing the linguistic difficulty of a text. Examples are given. (KC)

Presents reasons for the current upsurge in interest in oral reading errors, including theoretical shifts in how the process of learning to read is to be viewed and evaluated. Stresses the difference between descriptive and linguistic error analysis and develops leads that have emerged from studies using linguistic error analysis. (Author/FL)

Examines "Head Movement" in internally headed relative clauses (IHRCs). The article shows that in some cases, head movement to an external position need not take place and demonstrates that this movement of the head to a sentence-internal position results from the quantificational nature of IHRCs and Diesing's mapping hypothesis (1990,…

Describes a study that explores the perceptions that children (N=36) have about what it means to engage in mathematics. The study, which took place in reform-minded classrooms, concludes that children have a variety of perceptions and most do not feel that success is determined by speed and accuracy. Contains 20 references. (DDR)