An overview of the place of modern Chinese literature in Western academic studies precedes suggestions about new texts to add to the established body of Chinese literature typically studied to expand understanding of the many facets of Chinese culture. (18 references) (CB)

Comparison of temporal system acquisition between native English-speaking children and Polish adults learning English revealed that, although native learners comprehended absolute temporal contrasts first and relative components later, the second language-learners' initial temporal systems had both absolute and relative dimensions. (36 references)…

Two experiments are reported on the array-scanning characteristics of Malaysian subjects exposed to arrays of Roman and Arabic letters. Unique search patterns were found with both letters. Ways are discussed in which these patterns may be related to the underlying linguistic structure of words in Bahasa Malaysia, English, and Arabic. (13…

Ways that mother tongue and foreign languages are taught in Belgian, especially Flemish, secondary schools are discussed. Some "out-of-school" activities are reported that seem to have a significant effect on students' awareness of languages. The extent to which topics and subthemes of language awareness are present in official curricula…

Introduces the uses for computer-mediated (also called Discussion) lists. An address and, in most cases, a short description is provided for each of 49 lists. (three references) (CNP)

Corson's argument regarding points of difficulty about the Graeco-Latin vocabulary (morphological complexity and form/meaning relationship "opacity") are the basis of a proposal that much of the Graeco-Latin vocabulary of formal English can be shown to be quite regular and can be systematically taught. (Contains 10 references.) (LB)

Examines the impact of the Sekani (British Columbia, Canada) homeland's village, economic, and political reorganization on cultural and language maintenance, focusing on why the Sekani speak English when there is little direct contact with Euro-Canadians and no particular advantages. (Author/CB)

Argues that translation can be an effective learning tool for English speakers learning Chinese if semantic and discourse analysis are incorporated. Examples are given to illustrate various problems in such translation, including the division between state and action verbs, and the nonuse of -LE with verbs in past meaning. (15 references) (JL)

Suggests that the powerful role of the single character in the establishment of a memory network for reading skills be an inherent part of nonnative Chinese Mandarin reading programs. Through this technique, students come to understand lexical relationships between characters in words and will develop their powers of memorability. (nine…

Results of this study suggest that it is possible to establish specific proficiency-based goals for elementary Arabic using the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages proficiency orientation, to adapt structurally based materials to meet these specific learning goals, and to accomplish the targeted skill proficiency levels set for…

Discusses the theoretical implications of an experimental pilot study on the acquisition of word order properties in the French spoken by Dutch native speakers. Results provide support for the universal grammar approach to second-language acquisition. (Author/CB)

A brief description of factors affecting the generally neglected study of reversing language shift (RLS) is presented. and An eight-step model for building and planning such research, taking into consideration such influences as community and neighborhood, family, and school, is described. (CB)

Synthesizes theoretical typologies in the fields of ethnic relations, ethnonationalism, and sociolinguistics into a sociopolitical framework for analyzing various types of ethnolinguistic minority situations. Particular reference is made to minority situations in Europe, North America, and developing countries. (35 references) (Author/CB)

Evidence from a sample of informal written language (personal correspondence) shows that the most important constraints on pronoun usage in subject position are discourse-based. The quantitative analysis supports the hypothesis that pronoun usage is "functional" since semantically relevant information is preserved in surface structure.…

Examined past-tense inflection of verbs in Norwegian. Data from specifically language-impaired children, normally developing children, and adults were studied by a test constructed to find how input factors such as type and token of frequency and phonological acquisition influence acquisition of past-tense inflection. The goal was to learn whether…