Analyzes argumentation and the ways in which idealized models of argumentation relate to the linguistic behavior of participants in argument as talk. Sequencing patterns of arguments are interactionally accomplished. Speakers produce turns which are related to their purpose in talking and that include speech act complexes appropriate for the…

This article explores a model of lexicalisation based upon the constraints that lexicalisation is an interactive process and that it takes place in two stages. The article examines in depth the time-course of normal lexicalisation, speech error data, and the cognitive neuropsychology of speech production. (16 references) (CK)

Develops a psychologically plausible model of the development of word-naming skills in children in order to verify psychological evidence indicating the importance of children's underlying phonological skills as determinants of the ease with which they learn to read. This model is highly successful in learning the pronunciations of single-syllable…

Examines linguistic encoding of curricular knowledge in classroom testing events. Argues that dominant epistemological orientation of testing events is positivist and values a discrete, bounded form of knowledge. Compares the language of testing events and earlier lesson presentations of the same curricular information, suggesting that testing…

Proposes that unbounded dependency constructions in English instantiate a surface subject-predicate structure in which the predicate is typically discontinuous. Evidence supports this discontinuous analysis over the operator-variable structure conventionally assigned to unbounded dependencies. A model of phrase structure is outlined. (85…

Three studies investigated Spanish and English readers' interpretations of sentences with complex noun phrases (NPs). In contrast to earlier findings, results provided evidence for cross-language universality of the late closure parsing principle. Results suggest that late closure is not language-specific but specific to only certain classes of…

Examined a nonstandard pattern of agreement found in certain varieties of Atlantic Canada Acadian French. Quantitative analysis of subject-verb agreement patterns in Newfoundland French revealed consistent invariant behavior in this dialect, or, where there is variation, variation constrained according to specific linguistically based factors. (19…

The empirical basis for this article is a series of studies of glottalization in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. These studies show that, while females lead in the use of glottal replacement, males prefer glottalization. This pattern is interpreted in terms of a preference of males for localized variants, whereas females lead in adopting supra-local…

Offers a historical view of the Latvian language to show ways in which different political realities have affected Latvian vocabulary; for instance, in terms of loan words, and ways in which Latvian perceptions of loans shed light on cross-cultural aspects of translation. Discusses strategies by which Latvian translators have tried to solve these…

This study examined the influence of metrical patterns (syllable stress and serial position) of words on the production accuracy of 20 children (ages 22 months to 28 months). Among results were that one-fourth of the initial unstressed syllables were omitted and that consonant omissions, though few, tended to occur in the initial position.…

The applicability of transferability principles to language contact in the British Isles, especially Ireland, is shown with a detailed discussion of absolute constructions, structures with interesting relations between syntax and discourse, and with susceptibility to cross-linguistic influence. Evidence for transferability of absolutes in…

Investigates the claim that very young children avoid backwards coreference in their interpretation of sentences containing pronouns. It is argued that children initially prefer internal coreference even when such a response is disallowed for structural reasons and that avoidance appears to be a late developing phenomenon characteristic of…

Describes the phonological and phonetic features of English as spoken in Pakistan and shows such distinctive patterns as anglicized, acrolectal, mesolectal, and basilectal varieties of Pakistani English. (45 references) (CB)

A reassessment of the role of negative evidence in nonnative language acquisition argues that the grammar-building process cannot make use of negative evidence to restructure interlanguage grammars, and that second-language learners do not unlearn verb movement but extend the pattern with which they are already familiar. (46 references) (Author/CB)

Compares frequencies of cooccurrences in infant babbling between phonetic and contextual categories to expected frequencies, and considers deviations to be patterns in babbling. Results are provided of an examination of utterances of three Canadian-English and three Parisian-French infants whose babblings were transcribed and categorized according…