This study investigated the encoding of animate/inanimate distinctions in the pronominal systems of a variety of Bantu languages. Various encoding strategies are found to suggest that there is a strong syntactic opposition between animate and inanimate object markers in Bantu languages. Restricted positions and obligatory presence are particularly…

A study examined the idea that linguistic competence and linguistic performance may be initially dependent on a substrate of imagery. The study explored the ways in which four student interviewees' talk indicated the visual processes of thinking. The prompt used was: describe some aspect of daily life at the age of 9 or 10. The study reviewed…

An analysis of applicative constructions in Bantu languages proposes a typology of applicative structures, using examples from Ndendeule and Swahili. First, the basic facts about applicative constructions are presented, including those concerning morphology, meaning, and alternative expressions, and several arguments are posited. Primary objects…

A study analyzed the distribution of words in a three-million-word corpus of text from the "Wall Street Journal," in order to test a theory of the acquisition of word categories. The theory, an alternative to the semantic bootstrapping hypothesis, proposes that the child exploits multiple sources of cues (distributional, semantic, or…

The results of ongoing research on the acquisition of Irish as a first language are presented in this collection of four papers from a 1991 seminar and a fifth paper specially commissioned for this volume. The study of Irish syntax is of particular interest because of its contribution to the ongoing search for a Universal Grammar. The papers and…

This study focuses on the morphosyntactic aspects of Cantonese-English code-mixing as commonly spoken by bilinguals, most of whom are Cantonese. A corpus of Cantonese-English code-switching collected from informal conversations is analyzed in terms of structural properties, followed by a critique of the major constraints or principles that have…

Research into the sign languages of the deaf is reviewed, particularly as it relates to the study and use of sign language in the Irish context. The first section offers an overview of deafness, the deaf experience, acquisition of linguistic and social identity, the sociology of the deaf community, and the role of sign language. Subsequent…

This study is the first stage of a wider enquiry into alternative ways of assessing the readability of specialist texts. The interest in assessing these texts arose from the need to grade 60 medical journal articles for an individualized English-as-a-Foreign-Language reading scheme for doctors. The study reports on an investigation of subjective…

A discussion of grammatical disorders in aphasia considers an area of ambiguity. In the work of one researcher, impairment of logico-grammatical relations is associated with semantic aphasia, not efferent-motor aphasia. In Western studies, efferent-motor aphasia is associated with impaired comprehension and production of grammar. In order to…

The paper examines ways in which language complexity of the stimulus and language ability of the receivers may influence learning via television for hearing impaired and hearing children. Research is reviewed on the impact of language abstraction on learning from television, and findings from paired associate learning trials are cited to suggest…

To determine the relationship between handwriting speed and syntactic complexity, a study examined the syntactic features of 60 students enrolled in either a basic writing course or a traditional college composition course. Fast and slow handwriting were identified from highest scores on any one of four writing "tests." The writing…

In a study conducted to examine the impact of language choice on cognitive complexity (the number of constructs in a person's interpersonal construct system), 93 undergraduate students completed a role category questionnaire that asked each subject to write a description of two people they knew. In one case that description was to be of a…

The expression of modal meanings presents a difficulty even for advanced speakers of a foreign language and it has been shown that beginning and intermediate learners produce few modal auxiliaries. To investigate the phenomenon, a functional/semantic framework was used to determine what forms these students use to convey a particular meaning. The…

The results of a one-year study of the effect of topic and situation on the speech behavior of fifth and sixth graders of Spanish-English background are reported. Two elementary schools in Los Angeles County were selected for the study. Students' language skills as evidenced in spontaneous speech obtained through sociolinguistic methods of…

Uses a parable from a Kafka novel to illustrate and support the premise that language and literature study should be integrated, even in the early stages. Reading short literary works can explain involved language problems better than long explanations, and can also stimulate further literary study. (CHK)