Presents essential principles to consider when designing free-form remedial/tutorial program courseware for second language learning. They include: (1) adaptability, in terms of instruction requirements and user population needs; (2) user-friendliness, to reduce machine-induced fears; (3) sophistication in error analysis; and (4) flexibility, to…

This study used the think-aloud methodology on six Canadian fourth graders to promote the use of reading strategies in their first and second languages as part of a bilingual process-based remedial reading program. Students' English and French reading levels were established at baseline and reexamined at the end of the intervention. Pre- and…

After finding that the English Pronunciation course required at Regensburg University reduced errors by only 14 percent, a course was developed in recognizing errors (one's own and others'), with emphasis on vowel reduction, speech rhythm, elementary intonation and liaison. As a result, errors were reduced by 67 percent. (IFS/WGA)

The theoretical linguistic distinction between assertion and presupposition was empirically tested with two groups of subjects, young children acquiring English as their first language and adults acquiring English as a second language. (Author)

Presents evidence of a study of speakers of English as a Second Language that cross-language transfer effects interact with developmental effects in the construction of second language (L2) syllable structures. Argues that the optimality theory provides a more explicit account than the minimal sonority distance parameter setting model regarding…

Subjects (n=93) participated in an investigation of how the number of errors from different linguistic sources affects evaluative judgments about the need for revision in a non-native language. Results of the participation of non-native and native writers of English as well as of English as a foreign language teachers show that lexical errors have…

Examined corrective feedback and learner response to feedback in four primary level immersion classes. Transcripts of classroom interactions from subject-matter and French language arts lessons were analyzed using a model comprising the various moves in an error treatment sequence. Findings reveal a strong tendency for teachers to use recasts…

Reports four experiments examining subject-verb agreement errors in Spanish and English. Discusses cross-linguistic differences within the framework of the computational model of grammatical encoding proposed by Kempen and Hoenkamp. Suggests that languages differ in the extent to which the selection of the verb is controlled by features on the…

Explores the role of sonority in constraining the word identification errors of normal listeners by examining the phonological relationships between response errors and stimulus targets. Findings indicate that sonority and lexical phonostatistics may constrain coda-driven word-search processes. (35 references) (Author/CK)

Discusses the rationale and criteria for developing "Telegram," an electronic grammar database for English-as-a- Second-Language teachers in Hong Kong. Describes the importance of explicit grammatical knowledge in effective language teaching, and describes the design criteria for "Telegram," which aims to provide a body of…

Examines the results of a nonce-verb test administered to adults and children in five hispanophone communities to determine their control of the inflectional morphology of the Spanish verbal system. Results indicate that adults have less access to natural productive verbal processes than do children. Notes that these results have implications for…

This study compared the spoken and written English errors of 20 severely hearing-impaired postsecondary students with intelligible speech but poor English language. Writing samples exhibited a greater number of function word errors than did speech samples; there were no significant differences in content and structure errors. Implications for…

This paper examines the effect of formality in three different situations on the oral production of French interlanguage. An analysis of 39 Dutch-speaking students revealed that, contrary to predictions, the more formal situation does not lead to higher accuracy rates. (23 references) (Author)

Using a video sign-monitoring task in American Sign Language, this study investigated the effects of late exposure to a primary language on adult linguistic processing. Native signers were sensitive to errors in both verb agreement and aspect; early and late signers were only sensitive to errors in aspect morphology. Late exposure was found to…

Examines strategies of native and non-native listeners of French in phoneme-monitoring experiments requiring subjects to detect the presence of word-initial /t/ in liaison and non-liaison phrases. The performance of natives suggests the segmentation routine is based on identification of the critical word; non-natives rely on guessing strategies.…