In a statement-response-reply format, a proposition concerning the study of semantics is made and debated in three papers by two authors. In the first paper, it is proposed that semantics is not the study of the concept of meaning, but rather a neurolinguistic issue, despite the fact that semantics is linked to context. It is argued that semantic…

Research concerning the success factors in language immersion education is reviewed, focusing on five major schools of thought. First, the traditional model for immersion research, implemented in a Montreal (Canada) suburb is examined. Then three studies of the influence of affective variables in immersion program success are examined, and it is…

A discussion of the process of learning to write in a second language (L2) looks at how theory and research on first language (L1) composition and L2 acquisition influence the study of L2 composition. Three perspectives are examined: (1) the approach to writing that focuses on the text itself, including comparison of native L1 and L2 rhetorical…

Designed for persons interested in using "A Manual for Investigating American English in the South: Field Procedures" as a tool rather than using the approach suggested in the manual, this guide provides a preliminary set of instructions for using the manual, including comments on appropriate fieldwork orientation. Section II outlines…

Most research on language transfer has been conducted on the first and second language. This paper describes a case of transfer from the second language to the third language, specifically the influence of French (L2) on the learning of English (L3). The study focuses on French-English lexical cognates and suggests that although the learners…

Many second-language learners in their early stages of development are known to make an extensive use of prefabricated formulae. These formulae are extracted holistically from the input and memorized by rote. Learners can learn to use expressions that are far beyond their current knowledge of syntax and vocabulary, by guessing their meaning from…

The introduction to systemic functional linguistics explores the social semiotic approach to language most closely associated with the work of Michael Halliday and his colleagues. An approach that views language as a strategic, meaning-making resource, systemic linguistics focuses on the analysis of authentic, everyday texts and asks both how…

A discussion of classroom second language learning focuses on whether or not the concept of natural development in a target language is an appropriate research perspective. It is argued that the current psycholinguistic framework for such research should be replaced by the perspective that language learning is a social and contextual, not…

This paper discusses findings from an ongoing 3-year study of the impact of strategy training on Russian listening comprehension. In particular, the study focused on the techniques that encourage increased student control of their application of learner strategies. The research presented adds to prior research on listening training in second…

Relevance theory, the premise that a hearer will make the effort to process a communication if he or she feels it will alter or enrich his/her cognitive environment, can be useful for increasing the effectiveness of advertising communication. It is particularly helpful for analyzing and improving the effectiveness of the creative devices often…

This paper begins with an outline of some desirable properties of a communicative-pedagogical grammar. This serves as a theoretical point of reference for the subsequent description of a narrowly bounded semantic area, that of regret and relief. Conceptual analysis reveals a systematic relationship between these two emotions, which is…

The development of the Cambridge Assessment of Spoken English (CASE) is reviewed, with particular reference to the trialling and validation of the rating scales. The objectives of the test are to assess an individual's ability to produce and process spoken English; demonstrate the ability to communicate in English through the use of grammatical,…

The so-called deviant character of a set of non-native texts is examined by looking closely at how sentence syntax realizes and affects textual functions. Two broad groups of syntactic phenomena are considered: subordination and "marked structures," such as passives and clefts. Emphasis in this paper is on the following four ways in which syntax…

A study examined the tonal patterns in Komo, a sub-Bantu language of about 200,000 speakers in Zaire. It investigated: (1) the minimal lexical specifications necessary for Komo tones; (2) what sort of tonal alternations exist and how they may be accounted for most simply with rules; (3) how tonal phenomena interact with Komo morphology; and (4) at…

A discussion focusing on the abstractness of analysis in phonology, debated since the 1960s, describes the issue, reviews the literature on the subject, cites specific natural language examples, and examines the extent to which the issue has been resolved. An underlying representation is said to be abstract if it is different from the derived one,…