Reviews the syntactic priming task, a paradigm involving the presentation of a phrasal or clausal context, followed by the presentation of a target item for lexical decision or naming. Notes that response times are faster for targets syntactically congruent with the preceding context than for incongruent targets. Outlines how to administer this…

Presents a tentative cognitive-psychological model of language attrition, which draws on information from studies in second language attrition, neurobiology and psychology. Notes that this model is presented to demonstrate that a model based on consideration of the brain has the potential of providing a plausible account of the process of language…

Focuses on the major cues processed in Hungarian in order to distinguish subjects and objects in transitive clauses: subject-verb and object-verb agreement-marking; case-marking; animacy; and word order. The research reveals that double agreement-marking in Hungarian exists even in week agreement situations, a testimony to the diachronic tenacity…

Discusses the similarities between the science of chaos/complexity and second language acquisition (SLA). Notes that chaos/complexity scientists focus on how disorder yields to order and on how complexity arises in nature. Points out that the study of dynamic, complex nonlinear systems is meaningful in SLA as well. (78 references) (Author/CK)

A study tested models concerning syntactic categories in early multiword speech by investigating overlap in contexts in which children (n=11) used determiner types. Results indicate children have little knowledge of relationships between different determiner types, suggesting development of an adultlike syntactic determiner category may be…

Using frequency findings from corpus linguistics, explores the relationship between the information presented in English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language (ESL/EFL) materials and what is known about actual language use based on empirical studies. Three aspects of materials development for grammar instruction are discussed. (Author/VWL)

Twenty-four 12- to 19-month-old children were studied to examine the cognitive basis for the emergence of verbs. Substantial increases in verb comprehension across contexts, abstract cognition, and the ability to engage in symbolic action were observed, suggesting a relationship between underlying cognitive development and increased verb…

Explains the differences between constituency and dependency theories for structural linguistics. Reasons are provided for why the former has been indirectly responsible for the neglect of lexical acquisition in language acquisition research and for proposing a notation based on dependency theory for describing learners' segmentation of initially…

Experiments with skilled readers (N=83) from four native-language orthographic backgrounds examined the effects of: (1) blocked visual or auditory information on lexical decision-making; and (2) heterographic homophones on reading comprehension. Native and second language transfer does occur in second language reading, and orthographic structure…

Describes an experimental French foreign language program in one Italian region's primary schools. Discussion focuses on specific strategies used for developing proficiency at that age level based on the characteristics of French and the nature of language. (MSE)

Compared the vowel responses of severely disabled readers with those of normal control children in reading orthographically regular nonwords. Vowel responses were compared on both age and reading level groups, and the vowel responses of two out of three reading disabled groups paralleled those of their reading level peers. (Author/DJD)

Provides an annotated list, organized by subject, of 151 books in the areas of writing (contexts, status surveys, instruction, processes, text analysis, assessment, rhetoric, and writing and learning), language (processing, development, interrelationships, and language and schooling), literature, and teacher education. (MG)

Teachers are encouraged to learn to codify student errors of selection and usage and to promote use of dictionaries and other lexical tools so students can achieve proper pronunciation and identify colloquialisms, misuse of idioms, and lack of grammatical logic in complex constructions. (MSE)

Examination of a two-year-old's early determiner-noun combinations suggested that early article use can be distributed across a variety of nouns, and that such usage does not seem appropriately characterized as a pattern of limited semantic scope. (CB)

Explores how the ENFI (Electronic Networks for Interaction) computer method for teaching written English to deaf students can help these students bridge the gap between conversational and written language forms, and between the use of two different languages. (CB) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)