A method is proposed in which nondefined Chinese characters may be uniquely classified thus making them compatible for machine translation. An optical-digital device is used to locate nondefined geometric shapes within Chinese characters via spatial filtering techniques and cyclic cross-correlation. Seventeen nondefined geometric shapes are found…

To explore some of the ways in which notions of grammaticality reflected in secondary English language textbook series affect a student's acquisition of standard English and his attitude toward language, (1) statements which authors of widely-used textbooks made about standard English and why it is taught in the schools were compared with comments…

This paper examines the semantic and structural characteristics of a basic pattern in English and discusses Spanish equivalents. A sentence-by-sentence analysis is made with consideration of transformations on the basic patterns in both languages. Translation and transformation complications in the two languages are illustrated. The equivalence…

Departing from Baconian science which focuses on explanation of the occurrence of events, Chomsky's linguistics involves a different orientation--namely the explanation of form to account for linguistic behavior. The "knowledge" upon which linguistic judgements are based involves the premise of innate mechanisms. The assumption that speakers and…

Two lower socioeconomic groups (one black and one white) from the inner city and a third group of white children from a middle socioeconomic suburban area of Chicago were studied to delineate and compare the usage of selected language structures among children of different social and ethnic backgrounds. Usage of each of the test structures was…

FACETS OF GRAMMAR INTRODUCED BEFORE THE 10TH GRADE WERE FURTHER EXPLAINED AND AMPLIFIED IN THIS GUIDE FOR TEACHERS OF 10TH-GRADE ENGLISH. IN ADDITION, PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES WERE INTRODUCED, AND A REVIEW SECTION WAS INCLUDED. WHILE ADMITTING TO THE COMPLEXITY OF SOME SECTIONS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHICH DEALT WITH COMPLEMENTS, THE GUIDE SUGGESTED…

REWRITE OR PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES AND TRANSFORMATION RULES OF GRAMMAR WERE FEATURED IN THIS STUDENT VERSION GRAMMAR GUIDE. THE PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES DEFINED WAYS TO REWRITE OR SUBSTITUTE ONE SYMBOL FOR ANOTHER UNTIL AN UNDERLYING, OR KERNEL, SENTENCE IS FORMED. THE TRANSFORMATION RULES DESCRIBED THE WAYS THAT THESE KERNEL SENTENCES COULD BE…

An overconcern with the niceties of usage can undercut English teachers' efforts to eliminate public doublespeak. (JH)

A report on a study exploring the relationship between observed variability in second-language speech and the process in which correct variants are acquired and incorrect ones are replaced. Three phonological variables in the English speech of French-Canadian second-language speakers in Montreal were investigated. The method, results and…

Inner city teachers who had received special inservice training had significantly different attitudes toward nonstandard black dialects than did other inner city teachers. (Ed.)

Sample sentence-combining lessons developed to accompany the first-year A-LM German textbook are presented. The exercises are designed for language manipulation practice; they involve breaking down more complex sentences into simpler sentences and the subsequent recombination into complex sentences. All language skills, and particularly writing,…

Two experiments indicating that children's linguistic generalizational biases change from a semantically-based system to a syntactical-structural system provide evidence for a semantic-relational bias in children's early grammars and support the notion that children's generalizational biases shift from a semantic-relational basis to a…

A literature review pertaining to the teaching and learning of stress and intonation in native and second languages considers the functional movement, conversational English, the difficulty of learning stress/intonation, stress within words and sentences, difficulties for speakers of tone and syllable-timed languages, and tests of stress and…

Preliminary results from a large research project on the use of Frisian and Dutch in the official domain in Friesland focuses on language use in contacts between civil servants and customers in service encounters. Language patterns observed include convergence, neutrality, switching, and asymmetry. (CB)

Proposes a model of target- and native-language proverb comparison which can be used to assist proverb analysis in the language curriculum, using examples from Mandinka, a West African language. (Author/CB)