Sentences evoked from three- to five-year-olds (N=16), analyzed for errors (particularly copying-without-deletion), showed errors when: the subject noun phrase (NP) contained a relative clause, the relative clause had an object gap, and the relative clause was long. (Author/CB)

Examination of cognitive prerequisites for the acquisition of reading skills identified two kinds of conceptual representations of language activities--functional and technical concepts. English-as-a-second-language students can transfer these concepts to second-language literacy, but attention must be given to orthographic coding principles of…

Explains a formal scheme for analyzing biological communications for implicit structural themes using principles of kinetic structural analysis. Presents study findings which focused on the role of sequential communication structures for enhancing reception learning of knowledge and conceptual schemes. (ML)

This original comparative study explores two central questions in the study of first language acquisition: What is the relative impact of structural and functional determinants? What is universal versus language-specific during development? The study addresses these questions in three domains of child language: reference to entities, the…

Humor, a reversible, string-based unification approach for lemmatizing and disambiguating language data, has been used for both language corpus analysis and creation of a variety of linguistic software applications such as spell-checking. The system is language-independent, allowing multilingual applications for a variety of language types. Its…

The papers in this volume are all phonological in nature, and all but one of them are written within the framework of Optmality Theory. This volume includes work on a variety of languages: American Indian (Kiowa, Koasati, Shoshoni), Austronesian (Muna and Nancowry), Bantu (Tsonga), and Indo European (English and Spanish). The following articles…

This paper examines some of the rarely discussed aspects of Apachean classificatory verb stems with particular reference to Navajo and Western Apache. It is asserted that the concept of prototypes (and associated fuzziness) is useful in a description of Apachean classificatory verb stems, and that it can be used at two logically distinct levels of…

Suggests a way of looking at difficulties students have in using words appropriately, and an approach for presenting this information to students. The discussion concentrates on: (1) restrictions on words that can co-occur; and (2) rules for the grammatical marking of various noun phrases that occur with certain verbs and adjectives. (Author/PJM)

Discusses the implications of the tendency of adult second-language learners to develop a well-structured, simple form of language outside the classroom, i.e. the Basic Variety (BV). Focuses on the structural properties of the BV, the status of these properties and the reasons why some structural properties of "fully fledged" languages are more…

Provides examples and a discussion of the Inquiry Cooperation Model (ICM). The ICM is a way of describing a pattern of communicative cooperation between teacher and students. It tries to develop students' preconceptions into mathematical competence. Contains 15 references. (DDR)

Explored the effect of giving novice foreign language readers information about the rhetorical structure of an expository text as a text adjunct. Results indicated that an expanded framework is an effective text adjunct for the comprehension of the expository prose. (27 references) (Author/CB)

Presents a historic overview and analysis of the Sardinian language (actually a system of dialects), and defines diglossia and bilingualism. A discussion focuses on research conducted in two junior high schools to determine the differences in linguistic behavior in two contrasting situations (village and city) in regard to Sardinian and Italian.…

Traces the history of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) from the 1987 Vassar Conference to the publication, "Guidelines for the Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange." Explains the types of questions raised and attempts made to answer them. Discusses the organization of TEI committees and the project's future. (CFR)

Maintains that the Text Encoding Initiative guidelines make it possible to encode dramatic works as either an event or a text, but do not permit scholars to do both. Discusses approaches to encoding speeches and other aspects of dramatic texts. (CFR)

Considers problems of quantifying literary style. Examines several variables that may be used as stylistic "fingerprints" of a writer. Reviews work done on statistical analysis of change over time in literary style and applies this technique to the Bible. (CFR)