The aim of this book is to provide a thorough account of what is known about the acquisition of reading abilities in a second language and to foster a more principled research and instruction in second language literacy. Discussion is set forth from a variety of perspectives: first, through examinations of theoretical models of the reading process…

In this book, current work and issues in psycholinguistics are reviewed by 19 noted authorities in the fields of psychology, linguistics, education, psychiatry, and medicine. The seven sections of the book discuss past and present issues in psycholinguistics (including controversial issues and the theoretical and historical roots of…

A variety of informal language development assessment tools is presented for use with children with developmental disabilities. This book is written as a manual for clinicians and researchers for evaluating children who cannot meet the cognitive, perceptual, or motor requirements of standardized tests and to help evaluate aspects of language not…

This book defines and reviews five central problems in the study of second language acquisition (SLA): (subconscious) transfer, staged development, cross-learner systematicity, incompleteness, and variability. The central thesis of the text is that linguistic knowledge is an autonomous component of SLA, distinct from the socially determined use of…

This book is intended for graduate students and practitioners serving the needs of individuals with language-related learning disabilities in regular education, special education, and speech-language pathology. Some chapters are contributed by other authors. An introductory chapter chronicles historical trends in understanding and addressing…

Recognizing that language itself is not an isolated entity but part of a larger social, cultural, and cognitive context, the papers in this book investigate the relationships among all aspects of language--reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Literacy is dealt with as the development of language in young children. Issues related to this…

As a result of a program of research about cognitive processes involved in learning to read and write among 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-year old-children, this book attempts to get teacher-researchers to think through the implications of recent insights into literacy and literacy learning. The first section examines instructional assumptions; proposes a new…

A study is presented which attempts to clarify the notion of communicative proficiency in a foreign language and which outlines an instructional model that incorporates the insights of the study. Communicative proficiency is defined as fluent mastery of the foreign language in different contexts. The definition was operationalized into discourse…

The discussion of the role of verbal interaction in second language learning focuses on the process the learner undergoes in acquiring linguistic knowledge in a second- or foreign-language (L2) situation. The introductory section provides a general discussion of language learning and the acquisition of both linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge.…

This book has been conceived as a companion to learnability for the benefit of those linguists who base their work on Chomsky's "Principles and Parameters Hypothesis." General concepts from formal theory and complexity theory and important facts from psycholinguistics, historical linguistics, and language processing have been introduced…

This book considers the question of whether, or to what extent, a critical period limits the acquisition of a first language as well as a second language acquired postpubertally. The diversity of opinion on this question is represented in this volume. It is a question that has been approached by researchers working in linguistic theory, evolution…

This book contains resources, including lesson plans and other materials that could be used by teachers of children of migrant works and other ESL children, as well as by teachers whose students are not learners of English. Seven chapters include: (1) Migrant Farmworkers and Their Families; (2) How Language Works; (3) How to Create Culturally…

The 10 articles in this book examine how comprehension is affected by what the reader brings to the text, the manner in which the text is structured by the author, and the contextual variables that shape the meaning derived by the reader. Specific topics covered in the articles are (1) background knowledge and comprehension, (2) learning how to…

Understanding a text requires more than the ability to read individual words: it depends greatly on vocabulary knowledge. This important book brings together leading literacy scholars to synthesize cutting-edge research on vocabulary development and its connections to reading comprehension. The volume also reviews an array of approaches to…

Forty-one papers on language research and linguistic theory from the annual conference address these topics: linguistic philosophy; aspects of phonetics and phonology; topics in syntax; aspect; topics in semantics; topics in discourse analysis; sociolinguistics and language contact; historical linguistics; metatheory; and interdisciplinary…