Four conference papers on discourse are included. In "How Context Contributes to the Interpretation of Temporal Expressions," Carlota S. Smith provides a summary analysis of the temporal interpretation of English sentences. Many sentences are shown to be semantically incomplete; it is argued that information from neighboring sentences is…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 32 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the development of young children's metalinguistic understanding of "letter,""word," and "sentence"; (2) modifications in speech to elderly conversationalists;…

This inquiry examines the composing process of twelfth-grade writers, using a case study method. Eight twelfth graders were asked, in four sessions, each, to give autobiographies of their writing experiences and to compose aloud three times in the presence of a tape recorder and an investigator. Four hypotheses were formulated: (1) Twelfth-grade…

The purpose of this research project is to specify critical events within a person during linguistic processing. The experiments reported here cover such topics as the effects of increased reading rate on covert processes, covert behavior as a direct electro-myographic measure of mediating responses, enhancement of speech perception by…

Explores three aspects of temporally displaced talk between mothers and children: (1) the role of the knowledge base in such talk; (2) the effect of mother talk on child talk; and (3) the impact of such talk on the child's knowledge base. Indicates that maternal speech can mediate information and experience and contribute to the child's world…

Examines theoretical issues concerning the development of and the unity or diversity underlying private speech and studies the developmental progression of private speech in a low-income, culturally different sample. The effects of age, sex, environmental context, and the relationship of social speech to varieties of private speech are also…

The relationship between mathematics performance and fundamental linguistic variations in the cognitive representation of numbers was assessed, using 24 first graders each from the United States and Japan. Results indicate that the Japanese cognitive representation of number positively affects the understanding of place value. No gender…

Research is presented that investigates the amount of learner noticing produced by two types of grammar consciousness-raising treatments: teacher-fronted grammar lessons and interactive, grammar problem-solving tasks. Results indicate that task performance is as effective as formal instruction in promoting noticing. (Contains 33 references.)…

Asserts that humanities computing techniques and methodologies remain marginal to mainstream literary scholarship. Argues for large scale analyses of text databases that would incorporate a shift in theoretical orientation to include greater stress on intertextuality and sign theory. (CFR)

This study investigated whether top-down or bottom-up cognitive processing was more important in listening comprehension in large-scale English-as-a-Second-Language tests administered to secondary school students in Hong Kong over a period of seven years. Results suggest that bottom-up processing was more important than top-down processing in…

This document reviews the major trends of thought concerning first and second language acquisition, in an attempt to trace a sequential history to second language teaching methodology today. The contributions of the behaviorist and nativist schools of thought are examined in particular, and two major issues are focused upon: (1) the origins of…

This article hypothesizes that language repetition of young children (in the sense used by Kobashigawa and Snow) does not help language acquisition. The evidence comes from the results of a prior study in which no indication was found that mothers who repeat themselves a great deal have children who acquire language more quickly. However,…

The "cognitive clarity theory of reading" represents a resolution of the controversies about the relation between speech, writing, and reading. The work of M.A.K. Halliday suggests that learning to read and write is a natural extension of the "mathetic" speech functions, which consist of speech related to children's attempts to understand…

Minority cultures develop homogeneous customs, language, and thought patterns that affect the writing of individuals from these cultures. Once a student moves outside this homogeneous environment--for example, from an ethnic ghetto to white, middle class classrooms--ideas that seem to the writer to relate clearly to one another do not seem logical…

SPEAKING AN ORAL LANGUAGE AND SPEAKING A WRITTEN LANGUAGE INVOLVE DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE USE WHICH ARE IN TURN RELATED TO DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL METHODS AND DIFFERENT COURSES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT. BECAUSE ORAL SPEECH RELIES ON CONTEXT FOR COMMUNICATION, A COMMON CONTEXT AND POINT OF VIEW IS ASSUMED BY THE SPEAKER TO EXIST BETWEEN THE…