There is a set of morphemes in Alsea, an extinct Indian language of the Oregon coast, that are encliticized on the first word of the clause, similar to the second-position clitics in many languages. However, in some sentences these morphemes appear to be infixed rather than cliticized. True infixes are a rare phenomenon, and infixation of a…

An analysis of relative clauses in Navajo looks at a paradox that is rooted in the assumption that in Navajo, as in English, argument positions not occupied by some free lexical item must be occupied categorically by an EC. It examines patterns of and constraints on nominals with relation to the relative clause, theory concerning argumental…

In asserting that cohesion both exists in a superordinate relationship to unity and emphasis and must be considered a part of the surface structure of written language as well as the deep structure, this text provides a commentary on the paragraph as the basic unit of written language and an analysis of the structure underlying paragraph…

In silent reading, short-memory tasks, such as semantic and syntactic processing, require a stage of phonetic encoding between visual representation and the actual extraction of meaning, and this encoding includes prosodic as well as segmental features. To test for this suprasegmental coding, an experiment was conducted in which subjects were…

Although content related questions may indicate the depth of a readers' understanding of a passage, they do not necessarily help readers develop more general strategies for extracting information from print. A program of strategies to develop comprephension skills should include prereading instruction, activities that increase awareness of written…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 29 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) stop/fricative variation; (2) the acquisition of relational comparatives; (3) teachers' turn taking sanctions in primary school lessons; (4) hearing as an age…

Examination of business letters in English, French, and Japanese, focusing on prescriptive accounts in the respective languages, found that, despite amazingly similar surface characteristics, American business letters were reader-oriented, French business letters were writer-oriented, and Japanese business letters were oriented to the space…

Describes a technique called "vowel-sound-stick" which uses students' limited abilities in phonics, with an emphasis placed on syllabication in order to give the remedial reader a simple method of word attack. (RS)

A review of the origin of surnames in China covers such areas as number of surnames, selection of surnames, and surnames in national minorities. (CB)

The linguistic complexity of humor is illustrated with examples of word play translated from French to English and English to French. Examples from the writings of James Joyce and Marcel Proust are highlighted. (CB)

Discusses and compares the syntactic features of free relative clauses found in Castilian and Aragonese dialects of Old Spanish. The role of clitics (nontonic pronominals) and the lexical innovations of the wh-question compound-type clauses are highlighted. (TR)

Used experimental tasks--spontaneous telling of a story, reading, and parsing--to determine whether empirical data reflect narrative structure of stories. It was concluded that spontaneous pausing reflects the narrative structure and can be used as a guide to constructing theories of narrative structure and deciding between competing theories.…

Alaska native children tend toward academic difficulties due to the mismatch between school curricula and their linguistic and culturally-based cognitive skills. Data derived from a rigorous linguistic approach, which analyzes their actual speech to identify cognitive abilities, would assist researchers and curriculum designers improve school…

Presents the historical, technological, and pedagogical factors that led to high expectations in the use of language laboratories for teaching foreign languages. Presents findings of five studies on laboratory effectiveness showing that efficiency tests were largely irrelevant and inconclusive. Includes 10 proposals for language laboratory use.…

Examines the implications of structuralism for reading and English instruction. Argues that, according to Structuralism, literature worth reading confronts readers with the gap between writing and thought and forces them to consider their own thinking and, in a larger sense, their own place within the culture. (MM)