Presents reasons why the development of a methodology for the description, analysis, and evaluation of second-language classroom interaction would be desirable. L2 classroom interaction is unique in that linguistic forms are the goal as well as the vehicle of instruction, and the linguistic patterns of interaction produced by learners are linked…

The primary goal of this study is to identify intra-textual linguistic variation in university classroom talk, applying corpus-based techniques to the analysis. First, based on the automatically identified vocabulary patterns in classroom talk a large number of class sessions are segmented into smaller units of analysis. Second, the co-occurring…

Syntactic knowledge is widely held to be partially innate, rather than learned. In a classic example, it is sometimes argued that children know the proper use of anaphoric "one," although that knowledge could not have been learned from experience. Lidz et al. [Lidz, J., Waxman, S., & Freedman, J. (2003). What infants know about syntax but couldn't…

The major targets of number agreement in English are pronouns and verbs. To examine the factors that control pronoun number and to test pronouns against a psycholinguistic account of how verb number arises during language production, we varied the meaningful and grammatical number properties of agreement controllers and examined the impact of…

The pattern of language preference in a simultaneous bilingual (Filipino-English) population was examined, including changes in the pattern of preference over time. Participants were 81 Filipino boys (Mean age=6 years, 2 months) recruited from two schools in the Philippines. A language preference checklist was completed by the parents of the…

Adolescents with language-based learning disabilities (LBLD) often interpret idioms literally. When idioms are provided in an enriched context, comprehension is compromised further because of the LBLD student's inability to assign multiple meanings to words, assemble and integrate information, and go beyond a local referent to derive a global,…

The present study investigated scrambling effects on the processing of Japanese sentences and priority information used among thematic roles, case particles and grammatical functions. Reaction times for correct sentence decisions were significantly prolonged for scrambled active sentences with transitive verbs in the first experiment and with…

Explores typology-based differences in patterns of bilingual behavior by analyzing code-switches of Korean-English bilingual speakers, a language group that has not received much study so far. Data collected from 20 balanced bilinguals were analyzed to address the issues of linguistic constraints on code-switching and applicability of concepts of…

There have been few Australian studies of language maintenance amongst immigrant languages from the Indian subcontinent. The present study focuses on Tamil speakers in Melbourne from Sri Lanka or India, who are Hindus or Christians. Tamil is a pluricentric language that has been under the domination of English in these countries, at least amongst…

Instead of being completely arbitrary, the meaning of many idioms is "motivated" by their original, literal usage. In an FLT context, this offers the possibility of presenting idioms in ways that promote insightful learning rather than "blind" memorization. Associating an idiom with its etymology has been shown to enhance retention. This effect…

Purpose: The variable deletion of word-final consonants is a well-known feature of African American English (AAE). This study aimed to show whether African American children exhibit an alveolar bias in their deletion of final voiceless stops as has been observed for their production of final nasals. Method: The data were extracted from more than…

This study presents a taxonomy of the recasts that arose in communicative ESL and EFL classrooms. The taxonomy is used to examine the relationship between different characteristics of recasts and learner uptake/repair. Characteristics that were significantly related to uptake were the length of recasts (short vs. long), the linguistic focus…

We find a general, language-independent pattern in child language acquisition in which there is a clear difference between subject and object noun phrases. On one hand, indefinite objects tend to be interpreted nonreferentially, independently of word order and across experiments and languages. On the other hand, indefinite subjects tend to be…

Noting that grammar is alive, changing, and controversial, this book offers a combination of guidelines and creative language use for people who have already been exposed to the rules of grammar to help them start building their own style of speaking and writing. The first part of the book "Recalling the Parts of Speech," provides a…

English idioms are catalogued for German speakers. The guide is designed to be used both as a reference and as a teaching tool. It is divided into sections, each listing and defining common idioms using a number of English verbs, then presenting them in the context of dialogues. Most sections contain idioms for six or seven more common verbs, then…