The most basic and simplest act of communicative competence in Spanish involves the appropriate decoding and selection of the pronominal address forms "tu" and "Usted." Their selection and semantic value are not, however, determined by linguistic criteria alone. Since "tu/Ud." mark the relative status of each speaker in a given context, their…

Metalinguistic knowledge, or linguistic awareness, involves the ability to focus attention upon the form of language in and of itself, rather than merely as the vehicle by which meaning is conveyed. This ability to analyze language structures lags behind spontaneous speaking and listening performance because of the additional cognitive skills…

The purpose of this learning activity packet is to acquaint students of Spanish as a second language with letter-writing in Spanish. Upon completion of the packet, students should be able to: (1) identify some of the major differences in mailing customs between the U.S. and Hispanic countries, (2) read and write mailing and return adresses, (3)…

The schooling/learning process is a two-way street -- that is, teachers as well as students can learn important lessons about class values and acculturation. This study focuses upon that process where by middle-class teachers are significantly influenced by their lower-class students. The results dramatize two important changes--the acceptance of…

Data from responses to a grammaticality judgement test by 26 learners of English as a second language at two proficiency levels were used to investigate syntactic acquisition. Four syntactic structures were examined. Results suggest that less proficient subjects use syntactic strategies, while more proficient learners use semantic-based…

The collection of seven working papers in linguistics includes: "Proceeding from Syllable Inventory to Phonemic Inventory in the Analysis of Liangshan Yi (Andy Eatough); "Empty Consonants in Root-Medial Position" (Stephen A. Marlett); "What Is Literature? A Definition Based on Prototypes" (Jim Meyer); "Seri…

English is a Right Branching Direction (RBD) language in which relative clauses appear to the right of the head noun. In contrast, Chinese primarily relies on a Left Branching Direction (LBD) in which relative clauses premodify the head. Many studies have provided evidence that the differences in principal branching directions between the two…

A study investigated how native Korean-speaking children living in the United States tell stories in English, focusing on structural characteristics, cultural constructs, and second language development. Subjects were three children born in Korea and attending American elementary schools; two had been in the United States for less than a year.…

The handbook, arising from a research project on adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teaching, presents ESL teachers with ways to use authentic English as a teaching tool in the classroom. The purpose of this book is to: examine the connections between current theories of spoken discourse analysis and classroom practice; encourage language…

This bibliography lists 1,679 doctoral dissertations and master's theses on Native American languages. The entries represent graduate work completed at colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom between 1892 and 1992. Citations for this bibliography were gathered through an extensive search of the printed…

Reports on an eight month study examining the development of turn-allocation devices in children acquiring English as a second language. The role of prior language experience in second language learning is explored. (Author/AM)

Bernstein's theory of the relationships among social class, language "codes," family/school social structures, and school success is discussed, as is Labov's rejection of the "verbal deficit" concept. A relevant experiment is described. (Available in microfiche from: Carfax Publishing Company, Haddon House,…

Investigated whether children's syllabification of Dutch disyllabic words with a single intervocalic consonant adhered to the universal principles of syllable structure and whether these syllabifications witnessed an overruling of the universal phonological constraints by language-specific ones. Results indicate that universal principles explain…

Chronicles attitudes toward the spread of English usage in Italy during the twentieth century, focusing on the Americanization of Italian society. Finds two radically different reactions to the penetration of American culture: hostility and xenophobia during the first half of the century, and accommodation and acceptance after World War II. Also…

A prototype interactive videodisc system was created with the objectives of teaching signed communication skills to hearing associates of deaf children and language patterns to deaf children. This paper reviews the applications of computer technology in deaf education, the self-instructional capabilities of interactive videodisc systems, and…