Investigated how English and Japanese speakers syllabify two-syllable English words and nonwords with single intervocalic consonants Results are discussed in light of linguistic and psycholinguistic theories of syllabification. (Author/VWL)

Examines "la ronda," a common event in Spanish schools in which children present oral narratives of non-school experiences. Suggests that la ronda's goal is to help children and teachers build a sense of themselves as a moral community. Despite parallels in organization and content between la ronda and sharing time in U.S. schools, there…

Examines whether early simultaneous bilingual language exposure causes children to be language delayed or confused. Cites research suggesting normal and parallel linguistic development occurs in each language in young children and young children's dual language developments are similar to monolingual language acquisition. Research on simultaneous…

Proposes a standardized orthography for the English Creole vernacular of Trinadad and Tobago. The reasons for this standardization are to meet the needs of a local population writing more and more in Creole, and to prepare a standard reference dictionary of the language. (43 references) (Author/CB)

To deal with the problem of subjectivity and multiple variables in the oral evaluations given in French foreign language classes, this study considers three main questions: (1) Which criteria should be evaluated; (2) How should these criteria be evaluated; and (3) What is the role of the institution in the evaluation? (SBR)

Describes how foreign language instructors can test oral communication skills by simulating real-life situations and how this testing format was adapted so it could be used in a multisection French course. (one reference) (GLR)

Suggests an alternative approach to the teaching of indirect or reported speech. Deixis is proposed as a means of clarifying the anomalies of reported speech. The problem is assessed from a grammatical and semantic point of view in the reporting of statements (as opposed to the reporting of questions or commands). (GLR)

Explores the benefits in using textbook dialogue as script to be performed in the second language classroom. Teachers, in the role of director, can use theatrical techniques and suggest appropriate pantomime, gestures, and voice inflections to enhance the script. (CB)

Investigation and comparison of telephone behavior, and the attitudes and values attached to telephone usage in England and Greece, from the perspective of an interaction model. Results revealed cultural differences in responses to making telephone calls, verifying numbers and speakers, and apologies for wrong numbers or disturbing calls.…

A study investigated the ability of second language learners of Spanish to simultaneously process form and meaning during input. The students' conscious attention to form competed with conscious attention to meaning, and it is suggested that learners could attend to form during the intake process only when input was easily understandable. (CB)

Discusses the effectiveness of student-created oral presentations and visual displays in helping second-language students personalize and internalize the second language, and proposes structural guidelines that provide students flexibility in developing Spanish-language drama, writing, and art activities. (CB)

Discusses prominent base units of discourse analysis designed for dealing with structural characteristics of second-language discourse, and offers arguments in favor of selecting the utterance as a valuable base unit. (95 references) (GLR)

The study investigated the alternate forms reliability of four type-token ratios (TTRs) of oral language samples obtained from 52 elementary school children. Findings indicated that TTRs were not comparable when calculated for different sample sizes and that they were not reliable measures of the language performance of this population. (Author/DB)

A study examines the way in which one group of discourse connectors, terminators, function in contemporary spoken French. Three types of terminators, elements used at the end of an utterance or section to indicate its completion, are investigated, including utterance terminators, interrogative tags, and terminal tags. (Author/MSE)

Argues that the measures of content and style of maternal talk used by the Murray and Trevarthen (1986) study of temporal patterning during vocal engagements did not directly indicate the ways in which the behaviors of the partners (mothers and infants) were combined on a moment-to-moment basis. (Author/CB)