Analyzes the mechanisms involved in speech level shift in discourse that contains the "des/mas" forms. Concludes that level shift is often used to signal empathy between speakers and to indicate coherence and the hierarchical positioning of utterances in discourse. (EKN)

Finds confirmation of the humanizing influence of language in anthropological and linguistic studies, in creation myths, and in the lives of individuals such as Anne Frank and Helen Keller. Sees in George Orwell's "1984" and Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" examples of the dehumanization created by empty or deceptive…

One child's unique phonological rule is reported, which increased output variety and still yielded a mismatch with the adult form. It is argued that an addition to the strategies described by Menn is needed to account for the discovery of this rule and for later stages of phonological development. (Author)

Analysis of a database of tag questions in children's speech shed light on their structure and function. (JB)

Presents study designed to further evaluate the nature of spoken-language comprehension under conditions of varying perceptual load by manipulating different comprehension conditions. Investigates effects of subsidiary task paradigms on course of simultaneous comprehension processing. Argues that these can only be used when accompanied with probes…

Presents and analyzes two experiments designed to explore the role of the syllable in perceptual segmentation of words. Results suggest the subjects' detection response probably precedes lexical access and is based on the prelexical code. (Author/BK)

Briefly outlines progress in neurolinguistics including Broca's aphasia, multilingual aphasiacs, lateralization, and localization as possible explanations for problem of adult foreign language accent. (BK)

Concern with performance assessment in key areas of curriculum in British and Welsh schools has prompted the development of instruments for measuring Welsh language skills. An account is given of the preparation of tests to assess the language skills of students with Welsh as a first language and as a second language. (PJM)

Summarizes the 16 parameters hypothesized to be necessary and sufficient for linguistic phonetic specifications. Suggests seven parameters affecting tongue shapes, three determining the positions of the lips, one controlling the position of the velum, four varying laryngeal actions, and one controlling respiratory activity. (RL)

Supplements Hans Basboll's state-of-the-art report on generative phonology (EJ 227 659), focusing on "abstract" v "concrete" approaches to surface data. Includes a summary of a discussion on phonology. (RL)

A three-month project in which a blind hearing adult learned manual communication techniques for the deaf is reported. The instructional methods and reactions of teacher and student are presented. Finger spelling proved more useful than American Sign Language for the blind person as it enabled the blind user to follow English syntax. (PMJ)

Discusses the problems in obtaining data for the error analysis of deviant speech. It is suggested that the only way to obtain reliable data is to compare the difference between utterances of handicapped subjects and the analyzer's expectations with the differences of non-handicapped subjects and the analyzer's expectations. (Author/AMH)

Reports on a study seeking to test French adult students' intuitive understanding of nuances in the structure "'etre' plus past participle" in their native language. (AM)

A computer program named TEXT-1 is intended for quantitative content analysis. Any text may be taken as input. The program provides frequencies of words, syllables, or letters in alphabetical order; frequencies of sentences, subordinate clauses, or quotations; and measures used in information theory. (Author/JKS)

The temporal order comprehension of 64 normal elementary students (grades 2, 4, 6, and 8) was measured in center-embedded and right-embedded clause sentences that described a specific order of events through the variation of verb tenses in each clause. (Author/CL)