This paper addresses whether differences in metalinguistic abilities exist initially in children with oral language processing problems alone, reading problems alone, or both reading and oral language problems and examines whether these selected ability groups respond differently when provided with periodic intervention involving metalinguistic…

A study investigated the hypothesis that, for adult native speakers of English, increasing syntactic complexity would lead to increased salience of phonological properties of words. The study also examined whether syntactic simplicity would lead to a greater salience of semantic properties of words. Subjects were required to name a word presented…

There is one and only one common human language processing system and a variety of linguistic data to be processed. This system must operate opportunistically with certain areas of freedom. Within that system there is competition between the first and second languages on all levels and through all stages of development. Some processing procedures…

This report discusses issues having a major impact on "Study Talk," the Queensland component of an Australian language development project. After first outlining the procedures and organizational structures used to set up and conduct "Study Talk," the report briefly describes methods used to evaluate project operations and…

An experimental study of the interpretation of lexical anaphors and pronouns by Icelandic-speaking children is reported. The standard binding theory of English is reviewed, and problems in the application of the theory to Icelandic, which has long-distance antecedents, are discussed. A parameterized binding theory constructed to account for the…

Two experiments examined the process of acquisition of sentence structure in the passive voice among young children. The subjects were several hundred monolingual French-speaking children aged 4-11 in schools in Liege, Belgium. The two experiments used different subject groups. In the first experiment, the children were required to interpret…

The relationship between speech and print is essentially asymmetrical and changes as the reading ability of the child improves. For the child who has succeeded at decoding, the asymmetry implies that commonalities between speech and print are more important than their differences. Three hypothetical observation points illustrate the similarity…

In this book, current work and issues in psycholinguistics are reviewed by 19 noted authorities in the fields of psychology, linguistics, education, psychiatry, and medicine. The seven sections of the book discuss past and present issues in psycholinguistics (including controversial issues and the theoretical and historical roots of…

The spontaneous speech of a Mohawk-speaking boy was recorded from age 2;10 to 4;1. Analysis of this speech indicated that certain verbal prefixes are acquired earlier than suffixes. The pronominal prefix of nouns, on the other hand, enters late. Yet, before the appearance of any nominal affix, the child already uses a pronominal possessive as a…

Children aged three to five were the subjects of two studies of the development of ability to classify diverse objects into superordinate categories. In the first experiment, subjects were asked to designate two of three pictorially represented objects as representative of a given category. The second experiment required subjects to choose from a…

When lexical availability was manipulated through discourse support and word frequency for 40 target nouns, measurement of effects on length, complexity, order of mention, and fluency of 4- to 8-year-olds' utterances showed that the number and length of responses containing the target word varied with age, word frequency, and discourse support…

Reports a study which investigated the use of rational cloze procedure in conjunction with retrospection or introspection assessment techniques to examine how individuals understand text in both first and second languages, especially the use of contextual constraints. (MSE)

Considers the acquisition of language by deaf children of deaf parents and by deaf children of hearing parents in the light of such linguistic theories as Andersen's "nativization-denativization" and Bickerton's "bioprograms." Findings both support the theories and bring to light complexities that the theories do not exactly explain. (SED)

Two experiments were conducted on the influence of language mode (print or sign) and syntax (English or American Sign Language) on recall, preference, and comprehension. Prelingual deaf individuals' visual orientation produced a sign-based encoding system that responded to American Sign Language as a familiar language. (Author/BS)

There has been a longstanding interest among second and foreign language educators in research on language and the brain. By understanding how the brain learns naturally, language teachers may be better able to enhance their effectiveness in the classroom. This digest examines current brain research and discusses its implications for second…