In viewing the approach to English and other grammars in the light of linguistic universals, the author feels that the principal justification for deep structure analysis of English is that "deep structure analyses of all the languages of our multilingual world in combination can serve as a genuinely scientific basis of a defensible universal…

This festscrift is presented in honor of Josef Vachek, founder of the linguistic section of the Department of English and American studies of the Purkyne University. Papers in the collection represent a wide spectrum of research and thought in linguistics and the English language and are authored by the following: (1) J. Firbas, Brno; (2) M.…

The distinctive feature of this "microwave" course (based on Stevick's approach to foreign language teaching) is the emphasis on communicative use of each structural element as soon as it appears. The principal component is a series of short "cycles," each beginning with the introduction of new material and ending when that…

This work contains five papers in the area of experimental linguistics. Papers include: (1) "Units of Speech Perception," a study which deals with problems of the temporal organization of speech; (2) a study, "Manner of Articulation, Parallel Processing, and the Perception of Duration," which examines the durational patterns characterizing the…

Traces the history of the description of French Creoles, and discusses various issues in Creole description, including the notions of "mixed languages" and substratum, the relationship between Creole and French, language standardization, and the teaching of Creoles. (AM)

Proposes a new theory of morphological acquisition in second language learning, based on the theory of contrastive analysis and on the notion of the "psychomorpheme." (AM)

Examines the interference of Cantonese on the levels of phonology, syntax and lexis in Mandarin Chinese. The article offers remedial suggestions, discusses the special needs of Cantonese students, and compares them to the needs of their English-speaking counterparts. (Author/KM)

This book is designed as a comprehensive introductory text for first and second year college students of language and linguistics. It provides a chapter on each of the more established areas of linguistics, such as lexicology, morphology, syntax, phonetics and phonology, historical linguistics, and language typology and on some newer areas such as…

A cross-section method was used to study the developmental changes in elementary decoding and encoding processes of 163 Swedish-German bilingual students, whose length of residence in Sweden varied. It was demonstrated that decoding in two languages, expressed in terms of reaction time, develops faster than encoding. (SW)

Argues that where Spanish is in contact with Quechua, the Spanish present perfect, preterite, and pluperfect are in contrast on the basis of a spatio-temporal parameter derived from the notion of present relevance. These innovative uses come from interaction between semantic systems of Quechua and Spanish and are consistent with universals of the…

Presents a contrastive text-linguistic study of rhetorical differences between texts written by academics with different cultural backgrounds, but using as a means of expression the same language: English. Results indicate that Anglo-American writers use more metatext than Spanish-speaking writers, seem more concerned with orienting the reader,…

Examines conversational arguing style of three groups of language learners: students from a Hispanic background (G1); those who lived for a year in a Hispanic country (G2); and those who were in contact with the language only as part of their tertiary-level education (G3). Findings reveal that G1 and G2 students exhibited a similar argumentative…

A study of the writing processes of ten fifth-grade French immersion students examined 22 features of their writing in both English and French. Differences across languages occurred in eight features, and students displayed a wide range of writing process behaviors in both languages. (Author/MSE)

Suggests that the difficulties encountered by Westerners in learning Chinese are the result of native language interference, and interference caused by different customs and ways of thinking. A contrastive analysis of the different cultural aspects of Chinese and Western ways of thinking is presented. (VWL)

Recent research has shown that transfer operates on the discourse as well as the phonological, semantic, and syntactic levels. This is the case with relative clauses (RCs) used by Chinese students of English. RCs are less frequent in Chinese and their low incidence in interlanguage production by such students is a case of transfer, not avoidance.…