Discusses new directions in contrastive rhetoric. Reviews research on contrastive rhetoric over the past 30 years and examines how contrastive rhetoric has been pursued with varying aims and methods in a variety of English-as-a-Foreign-language (EFL) situations involving academic and professional writing. (Author/VWL)

Contrasts English and Spanish passive voice patterns of the simple, continuous, and perfect tenses in order to find non-corresponding elements to predict difficulties in the acquisition of English and Spanish as a second language. Findings reveal a positive transfer between all the English and literal Spanish counterparts analyzed. (19 references)…

Presents an alternative definition of negative evidence, based on the idea that the unique discourse structure created in the juxtaposition of child error and adult correct form can reveal the child in contrast or conflict between the two forms. Findings reveal that children reproduced the correct irregular model more often and persisted with…

Focuses on the discussion of the contemporary state of contrastive rhetoric that took place at the 1996 convention of the Teachers of English to the Speakers of Other Languages. The position taken at the convention states that no language or culture can be reduced to one or two diagrammatic structures and that stylistically preferred compositional…

This article attempts to clarify issues that were discussed in a previous article, which was written in response to an article that focused on connectionism and language transfer. (33 references) (CK)

Semantic primitives for time and space, as proposed in Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory, are examined for lexical equivalents in Hong Kong Cantonese. Temporal primitives are all found to have clear Cantonese exponents that can be combined as predicted with other metalanguage elements, with two exceptions. Spatial primitives all appear to have…

Explains the differences between learners with a Japanese-type language as their first language (L1) and those with a Spanish-type language concerning the acquisition of the prohibition of null-subjects in English. Adopts the minimalist program as the theoretical framework for the study. (Author/VWL)

Reviews the existing record pertaining to the acquisition of negation in Korean and juxtaposing it with current research in cross-linguistic child language acquisition. (Author/VWL)

Describes the process of acquisition in learner varieties with respect to reference and referential movement in the domain of modality. Findings are based on data from the longitudinal ESF and P-Moll projects and on cross-sectional data of Italian learners of German. (Author/VWL)

Argues that consideration of discipline and culture are complex and interrelated issue in academic writing and that this complexity and interrelationship can be seen at several different levels in specialized academic texts. Reviews research on contrastive rhetoric to investigate the impact of cultural and disciplinary factors on text construction…

The different ways of expressing a nuclear phrase from one language in another language are examined with reference to Finnish, Swedish, and French. Two specific methods of representing the root phrase in surface structure are examined in some detail. (MSE)

Examines three experimental studies deriving from contrastive analysis predictions and error analysis insights into deviances from expected target language forms. Each of these studies predate the Interlanguage hypothesis. (CB)

Overviews the Ivory Coast's sociolinguistic situation. Standard French, restricted to the elite, is threatened by the local lingua franca. The spread and functional allocations of Dyula and Popular French support the point that the pervasive use of a language does not always lead to its adoption as a national language. (CB)

Examines multilingual settings in Canada and Germany and explores the differentiation between second- and third-language acquisition as well as the differentiation between acquisition and learning. The article outlines priority areas for further research and presents the prospects for a greater recognition of multilingualism as a resource in…

Reviews the evolution of semicolon use in English, examining the frequency of semicolons, colons, and dashes in grammar, language, and linguistic books from the mid-16th century to the present. Concludes that after flourishing in the 17th and 18th centuries, the semicolon may have become a marginal component of the English punctuation system. (42…