Presents an experiment supporting the thesis that visual languages are well-suited for computer programmers whose native languages are not English, analyzing the particular problems of Arabic speakers in comprehending Pascal program structures. A visual programming environment is presented in which all syntactic and nearly all semantic information…

Li's work, which expands the government binding (GB) literature on Chinese linguistics and contributes to understanding constituency and word order, is described. Important issues are noted, empirical or theory-neutral criticisms of Li's accounts are raised, and alternative solutions are offered. (21 references) (LB)

An inductive and interactive classroom technique to help advanced French language students reformulate simplified schemata into more useful insights into French grammar is described. It is proposed that, by developing the ability to revise continually structural hypotheses, students can expand syntactic repertories and improve long-term language…

A six-week course in scientific writing and publishing at the University of Florida College of Medicine covered prose, syntax, and writing style, construction of scientific papers, and the submission and review process. An advanced course is now offered due to heavy demand. Materials include scientific writing texts, comprehensive syllabi, and…

The role of four cues in the assignment of actor role in Arabic was studied. Fifty-four sentences representing all possible permutations of the cues were presented to 100 native speakers of Arabic who were asked to identify the actor in each sentence. (Contains 41 references.) (JL)

Examines the second stage of natural second language attrition in the first language environment observed in a Japanese male returnee child. The subject spent 7 years in the United States, was 8-years-old when he returned, and was highly proficient in English. The second stage is characterized by a period of change in syntax and morphology,…

A study investigated the syntax and semantics of the word "until" in Standard British English and Singapore English. While the word is used similarly in the two languages, it has uses in Singapore English not available in Standard Spoken English, paralleling the word "dao" in Chinese and suggesting a substrate influence that is…

Combines contextual parameters with media language studies, focusing on the sports domain in the print and broadcast media in British, Indian, and Ghanaian English. The article examines the link between the sports register and the media version of actions. Findings confirm that media are a considerable differentiating factor. (18 references)…

Investigated the acquisition of base-generated topics in Mandarin Chinese by British students learning Chinese. The hypothesis is not confirmed that it would not be difficult for English speakers to acquire the base-generated topic in Chinese because in the acquisition of Chinese, English-speaking learners are exposed to positive evidence of…

Data from 34 British-born Chinese-English bilinguals are examined to elucidate patterns of first language (L1) development in a second language environment. Based on tape-recorded conversations and narrative data, analysis focuses on use of two Cantonese morphosyntactic features, classifiers, and quantifiers. Findings suggest despite a slight…

The linguistic resources used by academic writers to adopt a position and engage with readers, variously described as "evaluation," "stance" and "metadiscourse," have attracted increasing attention in the literature over the last 10 years and now form an important element of many ESP courses. A relatively overlooked interpersonal feature, however,…

This paper examines the linguistic landscapes of 15 Bangkok neighbourhoods to explore questions of language contact, language mixing and language dominance. It provides a linguistic framework for analysis of types of codemixing. It highlights the importance and influence of English as a global language. It examines the signs from government…

This study investigates whether proficient second language (L2) speakers of Spanish and English use the same parsing strategies as monolinguals when reading temporarily ambiguous sentences containing a complex noun phrase followed by a relative clause, such as "Peter fell in love with the daughter of the psychologist who studied in California."…

This paper recognizes that the teaching of English was an objective in British colonial expansion, and investigates some approaches used in schools to accomplish this end at a time when learners already had a basic grasp of the language. The Colony used in this example is Trinidad and Tobago, and the period immediately prior to closure of over a…

This paper demonstrates the role of disciplinary context in shaping the common rhetorical and textual features of research texts in different languages and, more broadly, problematizes the validity of straightforward sociocultural explanations of rhetorical differences frequently used in the literature. The research is based on the contrastive…