G. S. Dell, K. D. Reed, D. R. Adams, and A. S. Meyer (2000) proposed a "breadth-of-constraint" continuum on phoneme errors, using artificial experiment-wide constraints to investigate a putative middle ground between local and language-wide constraints. The authors report 5 experiments that test the idea of the continuum and the location of the…

Most research on language awareness in a second language (L2) has been carried out with adult learners. This research presents data showing that pedagogical techniques can be devised enabling children as young as 8 to develop metalinguistic awareness of their emerging L2 system. Building on existing work by Canadian researchers, this…

We investigate whether children with Grammatical Specific Language Impairment (G-SLI) are also phonologically impaired and, if so, what the nature of that impairment is. We focus on the prosodic complexity of words, based on their syllabic and metrical (stress) structure, and investigate this using a novel non-word repetition procedure, the Test…

This longitudinal case study investigated the development of spelling and orthographic knowledge in a child ESL learner from Grade 1 through Grade 4. Misspelling data from the learner's free writings were examined for overall patterns of spelling development and the word-specific changes in the spelling of individual words. The aim was to track…

This study reflects a social constructivist theoretical framework in which the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a central element, as two teaching approaches, communicative language teaching (CLT) and explicit focus on form (FonF) are examined. Research questions include: Are CLT and explicit FonF conducive to reaching the ZPD? Is there a…

Isolates and analyzes the errors in the English speech of a Punjabi-speaking Indian. (CK)

There are problems in interpreting the naming behavior of children. Children may misname a word because the word is absent from their vocabulary, because it is not yet firmly established, or because of a word retrieval or lexical assessing problem. Preliminary results are reported of an experimental technique designed to account for these…

The count/mass disinction is often considered to be a semantic one because it distinguishes those nouns that refer to countable things from those that refer to non-countable things. However, exceptions indicate that semantic properties alone are not sufficient to determine noun sub-categorization. Therefore, such sub-categorization must be defined…

A research project is discussed involving the collection of production data from writing samples of 375 adult learners of English divided equally among five language backgrounds: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Persian, and Spanish. Information is presented about three constructions: (1) subject relative clause, (2) infinitival complement on verb, and…

Error analysis can provide teachers with a foundation for creating practical writing experiences for students and can allow the teacher to examine errors for linguistic features appropriate and inappropriate to the social context of writing. Teachers tend to call for a finished, error-free product, a polished final paper instead of using error…

This study documents the emerging ability of children to use demonstrative expressions and definite and indefinite articles in order to establish a clear reference for the hearer in a natural discourse situation. The analysis is based primarily on transcripts of twins recorded over a period of nine months when they were 33 to 42 months old.…

Kean (EJ 165 107) presented a linguistic model to account for the features of the syndrome of Broca's aphasia, especially their agrammatism. This paper critiques Kean's paper by describing and evaluating her five major arguments. It is concluded that Kean's phonological model cannot account for agrammatism as well as syntactic models can.…

Reports on a study which sought to compare syntax acquisition in French by francophone and non-francophone children, in order to establish the order in which French grammatical elements are acquired, and in order to create a French version of the Bilingual Syntax Measure. (AM)

The study of the evaluation of error analysis in teaching English as a second language can contribute to the theory and practice of analyzing errors students make in written composition. (DD)

Ease or difficulty of learning simplified and complex Chinese characters is examined in terms of recognition and reproduction. Empirical observations and careful studies of errors in learning situations lead to the conclusion that complex characters are harder to learn. Teaching of Chinese characters therefore should proceed from simplified to…