This paper examines the role of hypotheses in several introductory science texts, including the various elements normally associated with hypotheses, such as: assumptions, generalization, and prediction; observation and experiment; and induction and probability. It discusses the major types of hypotheses: theoretical, statistical, and heuristic.…

The process of pragmaticization is explored in a study of 46 adult English speakers learning Chinese as their second language. Results suggest that "ba" constructions that manifest certain grammatical features and are structurally dependent will be acquired earlier than those pragmatically controlled and contextually dependent. (12 references) (LB)

Unlike conventional information retrieval systems, natural language processing (NLP) systems translate queries automatically into the language of the system. This paper discusses the potential impact of NLP on both the indexing and retrieval of text and examines some current NLP projects and systems that have established knowledge bases in narrow…

Analyzes the differences in production and comprehension of sexist stereotypes used in TV commercials. Compares metaphor choice and figures of speech and some syntactic markers and impact of such language on male and female viewers. (LET)

Of 30 children with low birth weight, only 4 demonstrated clinically significant language problems at age 3. Language problems were characterized by circumscribed expressive syntax difficulties but were not related systematically to birth weight, gestational age, length of neonatal hospitalization, severity of respiratory illness, socioeconomic…

The development of the expression of grammatical categories in German in Turkish and German children attending a bilingual day care center in a multilingual speech community in Berlin is examined. Results indicate no evidence that pragmatic categories precede syntactic ones, but some evidence shows that grammatical markers develop first as…

Local inversion in English and Chichewa shows remarkable similarities that can be explained by hypothesizing the same underlying argument structures and principles for mapping argument structure roles into syntactic functions. However, profound typological differences between the two languages defy analysis within a widely assumed architecture of…

This article discusses peer editing and how it can be used at any level of foreign language learning to check syntax or content problems. Application in the classroom shows that peer editors can help detect writing problems of their classmates. (Contains 17 references.) (JL)

The concept of language learning disability is discussed in terms of such language components as phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics; input and output dimensions of language performance; information processing; and the social construction of meaning. (DB)

Two experiments were performed on the ability of children and adults to understand and produce locative verbs. Results confirm that children tend to make syntactic errors with sentences containing "fill" and "empty," encoding the content argument as direct object. (33 references) (JL)

Analyzed longitudinal data from 28-year-old Cambodian man who, despite instruction in English-as-Second-Language and residence in English-speaking community, used form "has" for both possessives (PO) and existentials (EX). Shared semantic properties of PO/EX, together with syntactic, pragmatic, perceptual characteristics of native…

Students with (n=45) and without (n=60) mild mental retardation were compared on nine measures of syntactic complexity in writing at three grade levels (grades six, seven, and eight). Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences for group but not for grade level or group by grade level. (Author/DB)

Debates the merits of the claim that "symbolic technologies push cognitive growth earlier and longer." The results of an assessment are presented that involved three adult male peasants (two literate, one nonliterate) living in rural China and their ability to recall the text of "The Lonesome Opossum." (25 references) (GLR)

Investigates a single linguistic universal that typifies the generative approach to grammar: morphological causativization. The study offers a predictive lexical analysis of causativization within the framework of Government/Binding theory, discusses syntactic and lexical analyses, and examines transitive verbs. Discussions concerning periphrastic…

Reports a case study of a British 2-year old that shows a stage in syntactic development without a subject agreement protection but with a tense phrase. A sharp contrast in use of verb forms suggests that the child had left the Optional Infinitive stage and entered a transitional stage, where the major development is that the status of the bare…