Research studies in the areas of children's writing and reading interests are reported.

Reports on two experiments which question the assumption that semantic processing is superior to nonsemantic processing, and which demonstrate that effective semantic elaboration cannot be equated with the quantity of semantically congrous information. (Author/AM)

Demonstrates the operation of the universal principles of lexical simplification, through an examination of its use in translation; second language learning and teaching, and simplified reading texts. (Author/AM)

Proposes that English educators provide increased inservice training, doctoral programs for nontrditional students, training in secondary reading instruction, increased research on language acquisition and development, and special training for school administrators. (DD)

Four stories were divided into function word units; a dozen variables were all found to be statistically significant predictors of recall. For the more structured stories, subjects' intuitions, gist, and redundancy were the best predictors; for the less structured stories, serial position and repetition were best. (EJS)

Variations in lexicon, phonology, morphology, and syntax of Spanish as spoken in Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, and Castile have led to a diversity in the types of Spanish taught in Caribbean schools. The Programa Interamericano de Linguistica y Ensenanza de Idiomas is conducting a survey which will provide authoritative standards for Spanish teachers.…

The nature of early games and how they might assist the infant in language acquisition were explored in a longitudinal study of two mother-infant dyads, using video-recordings of their free play. The analysis of appearance and disappearance games was particularly revealing. (EJS)

Establishes the relationship between linguistic stress and fundamental frequency and the intonation contours in short declarative sentences, interrogative sentences, and nonterminal clauses in Advanced Standard Copenhagen Danish. The work is based on acoustical analyses of recordings by four subjects. (Author/EJS)

Measurements of the fundamental frequencies of Danish vowels showed a positive correlation with tongue height. The fundamental frequency differences between high and low vowels were greatest in long vowels in stressed position, while short vowels in unstressed position differed to a much lesser degree. (Author/EJS)

An experiment tests conjectures that right ear advantage (REA) has an auditory origin in competition or interference between acoustically similar stimuli and that feature-sharing effect (FSE) has its origin in assignment of features of phonetically similar stimuli. No effect on the REA for acoustic similarity, and a clear effect of acoustic…

Examines and evaluates 20th-century studies in Zhunyanese linguistics, particularly work accomplished since 1955. Discussion focuses on how the studies were developed, what their current state is, and where problems are. A bibliography follows, covering only those works mentioned in the main text. (Author/KM)

Discusses two major questions in the study of reading Chinese characters from the viewpoint of experimental psychology: (1) Is there cerebral lateralization? (2) In progressing from the recognition of single characters to the comprehension of sentences, is phonetic recoding necessary? The answer to both is yes. (KM)

Seventeen consonants of Italian (including a syllable with no consonants) were scaled in relative sameness-difference in sound. The procedure was cross checked against one of identifying aural syllables. The outcome was in keeping with Scripture's observation that errors in speech perception tend to reflect confusions of similar sounding…

Examined were the effects of the elicitor on the language obtained from nine language-impaired children (3 to 6-years-old) in a clinical setting. (Author/IM)

Describes ongoing research into errors in spontaneous speech. (RM)