This article discusses the crucial role that working memory (WM) plays in learning a second language and analyzes cross-linguistic differences in digit span. It argues that word span and semantic span should be considered in WM analysis. A semantic system is proposed in the WM model for language. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Compares the implied ontological frameworks of the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting and the World Wide Web Consortium's Semantic Web. Discusses current search engine technology, semantic markup, indexing principles of special libraries and online databases, and componentization and the distinction between data and…

Analyzes the thematic structure of the method and Discussion section of biology research articles. A corpus of 30 journal articles was analyzed using the categories of systematic functional linguistics and a semantic categorization for unmarked themes realized by subject. Revealed differences in the semantic construction of the sections. (VWL)

This study examined the ability of 70 deaf and 58 hearing students at the college and middle school levels to discern and apply knowledge of printed word morphology, especially morpheme segmentation and semantic analysis. Deaf college students scored similarly to middle school hearing students. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Acquisition of negation in Italian as a second language (L2) is investigated on the basis of the longitudinal data of five learners with different first languages in the framework of a functional approach focusing on the semantic and pragmatic principles governing the organization of learner varieties and the process of their complexification.…

A non-verbal 12-year-old boy with low functioning autism was tested on an auditory word-to-picture selection task. Picture foils were chosen to have visual features, semantic features, both, or neither in common with the correct answer. Errors were made more often to semantically than to visually related items. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Demonstrates how, by following the presumed and attested historical development of the German relative clause, students can be led through the formation of the structure in a simple three-step progression using familiar operations that impart the clause's various functions and meanings. (Author/CB)

Examines how native and second-language English speakers interpret reflexive anaphores and pronominals in certain sentence types. Interpreting anaphores was more difficult overall and a consistent order of difficulty was found for five different sentence types. Results are discussed in the context of the Parameterized Binding Theory and the Subset…

The analysis of 2,369 finite clauses in 11 English-language academic articles on oceanography attempts to establish the semantic characteristics of "by" phrases as a step toward understanding the circumstances in which authors were likely to use the prepositional phrase following a passive verb form. (CB)

Problems and techniques in teaching the translation of idioms that make little or no sense literally are examined, using as an example the translation of a French idiom into German. Use of bilingual dictionaries and other related activities to deepen and enrich understanding of the language are stressed. (MSE)

Describes an alternate lexico-semantic view of native language acquisition and adult second language learning that proposes that humans acquire and learn words, names, titles, expressions, sayings, and formulas as undifferentiated lexical items first and then develop systems to store and retrieve the lexemes and combine them into phrases and…

Results support previous findings that the competence to reason deductively becomes available in adolescence. Prior to the availability of this competence, performance is poor regardless of the relevance of propositional content. A clear developmental progression was evident between Grades 6 and 12; 16 percent of sixth graders were classified as…

Outlines an initial framework, five orientations and eight dimensions, based on information derived from the study of text analysis. Maintains that art education researchers need a multilayered framework to facilitate design of research that addresses the analysis of complex multidimensional data. (KM)

Linguistic performance of 7 children (mean age=68 months) with spina bifida, hydrocephalus, and average intelligence was evaluated. Subjects dealt with the semantic-pragmatic requirements of linguistically posed problems in an age-appropriate manner. Performance declined as task demands increased but no more than performance of nondisabled…

Describes experiments that compared a new method for automatically analyzing semantic structures in text by statistical means with the standard vector space model. Findings indicate that combining both methods improved performance over either alone. The effects of other experimental variables on retrieval performance (term weighting, suffix…