This paper summarizes most of what Sign linguists know about the function of the eyes in American Sign Language discourse. Here, "eyes" is taken to cover both opening and closing of the eyes and looking in a particular direction, referred to as the signer's "gaze-direction." Evidence is presented demonstrating that a signer's gaze can be lexically…

This is the first volume in a report series on a Finnish-English contrastive project begun in 1974. The primary purpose of this bibliography is to provide up-to-date material on contrastive topics for Finnish students and teachers. It does not aim at being a complete list of materials in the field of contrastive studies, nor in the field of…

The test performance of 120 Anglo, black, and Chicano third- and fifth-grade children is used to demonstrate the similarities between the processes of diachronic and ontogenetic language change. The instrument used measured the range of knowledge of several grammatical structures. Analysis and interpretation of results suggested the gradual…

Examines teacher response to learner errors in composition, and proposes rules for coherent writing. (AM)

Discusses the shortcomings of the morpheme order approach in first and second language acquisition research, and proposes instead the notion of developmental sequence, drawing on examples from data on four German children learning English naturalistically. (Author/AM)

Rebuts an article that claimed to overthrow the authors' 1969 findings. It is demonstrated that the original study concerned syntactic organization and that interpretation of it as bearing on comprehension is largely unjustified. Comments on their prior work in light of new developments in child language are included. (EJS)

Defines the concept of native speaker insight and suggests that, for the purpose of teaching English as a second language, the goal should not be native speaker insight (NSI) but NS Type 1, a reduced, adequate and attainable goal for foreign learners. (CFM)

Comparison of how English and Spanish speakers express contrastive emphasis revealed that, while English speakers used pitch and intensity, Spanish speakers used changes in syntax and lexicon as well as pitch and intensity in showing contrasts. (CB)

Most second language texts not only do not emphasize negotiation of meaning, but are also structured to mislead learners in their attempt to express meaning (in the learners' native language). Examples from German, Spanish, and French are used to illustrate the need for second language learning to stand alone and independently from the native…

Attempts to establish a practical approach to teaching the various meanings of the German verb "handeln". Exercises that aid advanced students in understanding the verb's meaning include a complete list of all possible meanings of the verb, as well as sample sentences using the verb in a wide range of contexts. (LMO)

Compares written expression of temporal relationships by American and Mexican children fourth- and ninth-grade children (N=80) receiving long-term second language instruction to that of native speaker children of the same grade level. Nonnative speakers use the same general patterns of syntactic, lexical, and discursive devices for expressing…

Discusses analogical change in word structure where meaning seems to have had a role in determining the direction of the change. Many examples are given of pairs of British place names and other English words of various origins. A few examples are included from other languages. (Author/LMO)

Examines the effect of adult recasting in sign language on the acquisition of specific syntactic-semantic structures by deaf children aged 9 to 76 months. Results indicated that recasting triggered the acquisition of new syntactic-semantic structures in American Sign Language and English, evident in the spontaneous production of previously…

Discusses shifts in language/composition research over the past 20 years as they relate to an emerging consensus about English teaching. (SRT)

Assesses the performance of bilingual children on two language tasks in both the children's languages in order to determine whether the profile of skills in the first language was replicated in the second language. (HOD)