Bipolar adjective scales and bipolar graphic scales for visual ratings were validated. The study suggests a stable structure of graphic ratings of art unaffected by race or artist or viewer and art style that should prove useful in cross-cultural studies and in studies among children and the verbally impaired. (Author/RM)

In order to ascertain if providing verb pattern information permits learners to use verbs correctly, 24 verbs that share the same semantic feature (give) but that fall into different structural patterns were presented to two groups of advanced learners of English, only one of which was given information about verb patterns. (SED)

Discusses the audio and video-recorded longitudinal data from six infants with varying degrees of vision. The findings indicate that there are basic differences in early language, which appear to reflect differences in cognitive development. (SL)

Discusses the findings of six studies that were undertaken to explore the phenomenon of semantic priming, questioning whether it is semantically or associatively based. Results indicated that the role of semantics in the priming process is somewhat limited. In addition, these results indicated that the amount of priming observed is somewhat task…

Discusses the differences in power among people of all societies, which are reflected by pronoun usage (or other grammatical indications) or, in the case of English, by some other linguistic means. Since English can no longer distinguish solidarity and power by means of pronouns, it relies on the use of first names and titles to accomplish the…

Compares the semantic processing skills of younger adults (mean age 25) and older adults (mean age 68). After reading a sentence, subjects performed a task in which responses did not depend on retention. Results provided no evidence for age-related changes, including those associated with access to implied information. (Author/RH)

A total of 15 learning-disabled and 15 skilled readers viewed three groups of nonsense pictures (unnamed, name-nonassociated, and name-associated), then recalled them later. Results suggested learning disabled children's reading difficulties are due to an inability to activate a semantic representation that interconnects visual and verbal codes.…

Discusses syntactic and stylistic errors in the language of advertising and the reason for these linguistic irregularities. Suggests ways of dealing with the problem. (EL)

Explains how antonymy (opposition) can offer another approach to vocabulary development in a classroom situation. (HOD)

Fifteen exercises are presented that are intended to increase reading comprehension in seventh and eighth graders via emphasis on word recognition, language comprehension (syntax and semantics), and reasoning skills (including inference, analogies, relationships, and direction following). (CL)

English- and Japanese-speaking children aged four and five were asked to say the opposite of statements. Statements varied in truth value and unmarked/marked membership of antonym pairs. Findings did not support a universality hypothesis; differences were found between the two groups in the use of semantic and syntactic denial. (Author/CB)

Studied bilingual children and children learning a second language using a picture-word interference task. The printed distractors interfered with naming both on trials where the distractor and naming language were the same and on trials where they were different. These and other results question whether an "input switch" operates for bilingual…

Suggests that integrating story maps into a reading lesson helps readers attend to details as well as to relationships between story elements before, during, and after reading. Reports findings of a study to support this belief. (FL)

Argues that in order to understand the complexities of the nuclear arms race, it is necessary to understand "nukespeak," a "language" of euphemisms, jargon, and acronyms used in talking about nuclear matters. Learning activities and projects for high school English classes are suggested, and a 45-term nukespeak glossary is…

Analyzes economics texts and examines range of meanings conveyed by the simple conditional form and the expression of conditional meaning. Concludes that relationship between economic concepts and their verbal expressions cannot be correlated. Authors suggest that teachers of English for economics and teachers of economics need to recognize this…