The feasibility of generating multiple-choice test questions by transforming sentences from prose instructional materials was examined. A computer-based algorithm was used to analyze prose subject matter and to identify high-information words. Sentences containing selected words were then transformed into multiple-choice items by four writers who…

The morphological structure of the nouns in Yupik Eskimo is highly complex. Past attempts at its classification are recapitulated, and a new analysis is proposed within the theoretical framework of generative phonology. The new classification is informative: it reveals the innate structures underlying the various noun types, and also provides…

This book begins with a consideration of the relation between language as representation and the reality that is represented. The object of this study is the semantic function of syntactical relations in French and Spanish, but other languages are also used for purposes of comparison. Three principal diatheses are revealed: objective, subjective,…

This is the first of two volumes dealing with a comprehensive review of structural patterns in the "Advanced Preparatory Course." All essential grammatical structures introduced in the "Basic Course" are included. The textual material in the 20 lessons is designed to stimulate recall and reinforce previously learned grammatical patterns. The…

This section of a four-part research project investigating the syntax of Brazilian Portuguese presents data concerning tense usage in verb distribution. The data are derived from the analysis of selected literary samples from representative and contemporary writers. The selection of authors and tabulation of data are also described. Materials…

Human beings who have been forced to acquire language through non-auditory modalities characteristically display an impoverished syntactic system. I.M. Schlessinger (1970) has shown, for example, that users of sign language have difficulty in communicating syntactic relations such as "subject of main verb,""object of the verb," and "indirect…

Questionnaire responses of college students revealed that those pursuing modern language or linguistic degrees (N=63) were significantly more aware and knowledgeable of traditional grammar than were students pursuing other degrees (N=175), although many had studied a foreign language at the secondary school or college level. (CB)

Wish expression is the way by which wishes are expressed. These wishes are either fulfilled or unfulfilled. There are certain devices that are used in English and Arabic and these devices are used to express wishes. Fulfilled wishes are expressed by most devices of wish expression in both English and Arabic. In turn, unfulfilled wishes are…

Summaries of 20 selected instructional films for elementary, intermediate, and secondary students are presented. Subjects include the solar system, lighting, insects, health, friendship, fairy tales, fire hazards, glassmaking, and foreign countries. Film adaptions of "The Wizard of Oz" and two stories by Mark Twain are also reviewed. (PP)

It is proposed that the notion of "address" is neither meaning nor form but that it designates the form which designates meaning. It is therefore in a position underlying both form and meaning. (AMH)

Analyzes data from oral interviews with child learners of Japanese as a second language. Findings indicate that: tasks sensitive to students' understanding of critical syntactic structures and manageable for their cognitive level were effective; high-level students tried to produce more Japanese with more complexity; and phrase particle use was…

Discusses variation in interlanguage and suggests two hypotheses to explain such variation as multiple internal representations of a form and processing errors. Suggests that second language learners can initially represent new forms as prototype schemas, and that such non-discrete representations are a third source of variation in interlanguage.…

Overviews language transfer and a renewal of interest in contrastive analysis (CA) as a suitable testing ground for language transfer. Focuses on Iranian students' difficulty in learning the English definite article, "the." The CA reveals that in Persian, there is no single word corresponding exactly to the English definite article. (16…

How do children determine the syntactic category of novel words? In this article we present the results of 2 experiments that investigated whether German children between 12 and 16 months of age can use distributional knowledge that determiners precede nouns and subject pronouns precede verbs to syntactically categorize adjacent novel words.…

We used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to investigate the contributions of explicit and implicit processes during second language (L2) sentence comprehension. We used a L2 grammaticality judgment task (GJT) to test 20 native English speakers enrolled in the first four semesters of Spanish while recording both accuracy and ERP data. Because…