Introduces three papers (published in this issue) contrasting the development of gestures and sign language with spoken language in order to specify the nature of language plasticity (susceptibility to change) and robustness (invariance). Focuses on question of whether these are parallel systems or an integrated system with two forms of…

The study investigated whether Nonstandard English (NSE) dialect responses to an examiner-constructed sentence completion test were congruent with and predictive of use of NSE during spontaneous conversation. It was concluded that the sentence completion test is satisfactorily congruent with and predictive of patterns of dialect used in…

Identifies certain key elements in the ACTFL/ETS proficiency descriptions that relate to language teaching and compares various methods and approaches in terms of those elements. Draws some conclusions about the way methodologies might evolve in the future. (EKN)

Describes several activities that can be used to fill short periods of class time to give language students extra language practice. Activities include generating word lists, sentences, questions, clue-words, 20 questions, hangman. All require no advance preparation. (BK)

This study with 10 adults who stutter and 10 nonstuttering controls completed speech, orofacial nonspeech, and finger isochronous rhythmic timing tasks to investigate the role of timing in stuttering. Findings extend growing evidence that stuttering individuals do not differ from nonstuttering individuals in the ability to generate temporal…

Examination of sex-based differences in the form of English compliments and in the frequency of various compliment response types in a corpus of 1,062 compliment events found several differences in men's and women's usage. Compliments from men were usually accepted, especially by female recipients, but compliments from women were met with a…

Examination of the relationship between linguistic forms and the functions they serve in one- to two-year-olds' (N=6) early talk about agentivity and control found that the subjects systematically employed different self reference forms to mark distinct perspectives on agency. 34 references. (Author/CB)

Reviews the literature on oral language correction and discusses some of the shortcomings of commonly used correction techniques. Adaptations of certain features of the cloze procedure can result in a simple correction procedure which is effective in eliciting self- and peer-corrections from students. (Author/CB)

Examines the philosophy of Jacques Derrida and its implications for educational technology. Highlights include deconstruction and poststructuralism; the authority of text; spoken language and representation of thought; and an annotated bibliography that includes 41 sources of information. (LRW)

Two experiments examined whether infants might use the prosody of sentences to organize and remember spoken information. Results suggest that infants better remember phonetic properties of words prosodically linked together within a single clause rather than a list, and words that are prosodically linked within a single clausal unit as opposed to…

A study of linguistic stylistics examines the play's coherence by focusing on the relationship of speech exchanges to frames and the relationship of frames to one another. Frame analysis is seen to provide a clearer understanding of textual coherence in dramatic texts. (15 references) (Author/LB)

Argues that two oppositions (product versus process, literacy versus orality) bear a special relationship to one another resembling a ratio. Relates product and literacy to centralized authority, and relates process and orality to open-minded exchange, thus evoking the central dilemma of modern culture. (HB)

Reports on attempts to reconstruct the Proto-Chinese sound system, based on linguistic data from modern Chinese dialects rather than ancient rhyme dictionaries and tables, resulting in a sound system with 29 onsets and 74 rhymes and some new rules for sound changes. (18 references) (Author/CB)

Explores the nature of trait verbal aggressiveness. Identifies types of verbally aggressive messages used by college students, beliefs about hurt, and reasons for use that distinguish high from low verbal aggressives. Finds that high verbal aggressive students are prone to using self-concept attacking messages. (SR)

This paper describes the rationale for collection, digitisation, and quantitative characterization of a large multispeaker database of spoken Australian English. The speakers, all of whom were born in Australia of Australian parents, were recorded on 10 occasions over a period of months with each speaker recording a variety of speaking styles on…