Examines the concept of consciousness in second-language research. After defining theoretical assumptions and reviewing a number of controversies in the psycholinguistic and second-language literature, it is argued that the terms conscious and unconscious have acquired too much surplus meaning and should be abandoned in favor of clearly defined…

Discusses a serious problem that has existed for years in language research with regard to the use of the inferential statistic known as the t test. (12 references) (JL)

Introduces a special issue that includes papers which focus on the relationship between prosody and conversation. The papers represent different research traditions (e.g., the ethnomethodological framework of dialog analyses and report case studies, quantitative study of large corpora, experimental research using elicited or constructed speech…

Suggests the future of language and social interaction research should be further development of the understanding of the organization of talk and other contact in interaction itself, at the most general level in which it can be described. (Author/VWL)

Discusses resonances and basic issues of the four language and social interaction divisions of the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association: Ethnomethodology, Conversation Analysis, Microanalysis, and the Ethnography of Speaking (EM-CA-MA-ES). (Author/VWL)

Indicates that phonological information of both whole-character and of sub-word components (radicals) was automatically activated despite experimental tasks in which subjects were given little incentive to execute phonetic processing. Concludes that the interaction of figurative and phonological processing is due to mutual activation of the whole…

Examines research on the impact of sub-word levels in the computation of word phonology for alphabetic English and logographic Japanese kanji. Suggests some involvement of sub-word level processing in the computation of word phonology in kanji. Suggests structural differences between On-reading words (of Chinese origin) and Kun-reading word (of…

Argues that language teaching would benefit by paying attention to the second language (L2) rather than concentrating primarily on the native speakers. Suggests ways that language teaching can apply an L2-user model and exploit the students' first language. (Author/VWL)

Offers a brief overview of the Structure Building Framework, a simple framework for describing the cognitive processes and mechanisms involved in discourse comprehension. Reviews the seminal work on which it is based (the first decade of structure-building research); and recounts the research conducted by the author to test the Structure Building…

Analyzes different strategies used by speakers/writers and hearers/readers to deal with underspecified coherence relations, phrased in terms of Horn's (1984) Q- and R- principle. Presents data from the psycholinguistic literature on the interpretation of underspecified relations and data from language-acquisition research suggesting that both…

Discusses the relationship between second-language teaching and research from the multiple perspectives of a North American context. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on the aim of the Cultural Inglesa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which is the development of a new, fully sustainable concept for classroom-based research--exploratory practice--and its assimilation into the normal working and professional-development practices of Rio Cultura teachers. (Author/VWL)

Seeks to (1) show that the particular form of the model used to represent linguistic production has important consequences for the goals and practices of second-language acquisition research, and (2) that the theoretical model of Cognitive Grammar represents a valid framework for the investigation of second-language acquisition. (Author/VWL)

An analysis of the French construction in which a passive is followed by a simple infinitive (e.g., "Paul a ete prie de sortir"), which language purists claim does not exist in French, suggests an account similar to the passivization of verbs without direct object. Three verb groups are considered: verbs of perception, opinion, and…

Compares differences in benefit appeal in letters offering internships written by the business community to an internship director. Finds the promise of "opportunity" and "for credit" appears more often in unpaid internship offers; emphasis was placed on writing skills and work-related tasks in paid internship offers. Reveals…