Results of a study of the differences between standard French and Acadian French as spoken by Nova Scotian children are presented. The study had as subjects 24 school children, two each from first, second, and third grades from each of four geographic regions. The language corpus consisted of elicited descriptions of pictures and spontaneous…

Working papers resulting from the 1986 University of North Dakota Summer Institute of Linguistics include: "Orthographic Reform in Kope" (John M. Clifton); "Ternarity and Obligatory Branching in Piraha" (Daniel Everett); "Reduplication in Majang" (Pete Unseth); "Indirect Objects and Incorporation in Mazatec"…

Verb agreement, rules, and their application in Lakota, a Siouan language, are examined in the framework of relational grammar. It is argued that certain relational grammar concepts, especially the notions of level and working 2, provide the necessary theoretical apparatus for formulating concise rules of verb agreement in Lakota. The rules…

A study comparing the dialects of Ozark and Appalachian English addresses a possible relationship between the two dialects. The study compares selected structures in the two dialects in order to (1) examine similarities and differences, (2) investigate the behavior of a range of ages (10-70+) to determine patterns of change, (3) examine…

The use of small cards containing grammatical forms for classroom second language practice is explained, and suggestions for designing card sets are made. The technique involves pairing students, providing each with a different but related card, and requiring them to work together to answer each other's question. Cards may contain a variety of…

There is a set of morphemes in Alsea, an extinct Indian language of the Oregon coast, that are encliticized on the first word of the clause, similar to the second-position clitics in many languages. However, in some sentences these morphemes appear to be infixed rather than cliticized. True infixes are a rare phenomenon, and infixation of a…

An analysis of relative clauses in Navajo looks at a paradox that is rooted in the assumption that in Navajo, as in English, argument positions not occupied by some free lexical item must be occupied categorically by an EC. It examines patterns of and constraints on nominals with relation to the relative clause, theory concerning argumental…

Using a list of 15 logical connectives and a selected sample of 216 students from the higher range of ability in two British comprehensive schools, a study investigated the comprehension of those logical connectives in two contexts, "everyday" and "history." The 15 connectives tested occurred in a chapter of the textbook,…

Two studies of the innovative semantic distinctions and innovative uses before the acquisition of conventional number classifiers by young Japanese children (aged 5-7 years) are discussed. The findings suggest that lexical acquisition is an intricate process which often requires more than simple mappings of forms onto categories, and that…

A discussion of techniques for assisting native English-speaking students in understanding the concept of gender in such languages as French, German, Italian, and Spanish considers three issues: (1) What is gender? (2) What is a good way to learn the gender of nouns? and (3) How did the concept of gender develop and how can the concept help one to…

This paper describes an innovative method for teaching reading comprehension in a second language. The underlying assumption of this method is that a student who reads in his native language does not need to learn a theoretical system of grammar rules in the traditional sense of the term, since he already possesses the ability to recognize words…

This study examines the incidence and character of conditional statements ("if...then") in the spontaneous speech of young children. Twenty-four pairs of siblings, ranging in age from 2.1 years to 7.3 years, were observed and recorded while interacting in their homes for a period of 1 hour. Sixty-nine statements including "if"…

This issue of "TESL Reporter" presents the following articles: "Language Acquisition and Dialectalism" by Patricia G. Adkins, "Supplementation of Opposites in Simple Predicate Expansion" by Yao Shen, and "Form Class Baseball: A TESL Game" by Alice C. Pack. The meaning today of dialectal speech, or "bidialectal speech," is addressed by Patricia…