Spontaneous utterances from 3 conversational contexts were generated by 3 groups of 10 children, including children with specific language impairments (SLI), and analyzed for accuracy of pronoun usage. Results indicated that children with SLI exhibited more total errors than chronological peers but not more than their language level peers. A…

First graders listened to the pronunciation of single syllable nonsense words and were asked to spell the words. Results showed that, for nonsense words of the form consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant, in which the consonant following the vowel was a nasal or a liquid, children often omitted the second consonant in their spelling. (BC)

Found dissociations between regular and irregular inflectional processes in the formation of English past tenses, German noun plurals, and German participles. Children's inflectional errors include using regular patterns for irregular forms. Some linguistic processes, such as forming compound words, are sensitive to the distinction between regular…

This response to Fey (EC 604 058) presents arguments and examples in support of using concepts of phonological processes and constructs in assessing and treating phonological disorders in children. The paper disagrees with Fey's contention that using the term "process" for "rule" leads to confusion. (Author/DB)

An experiment with 67 Australian junior high school students demonstrates that presentation of goal-free 2-move mathematics problems, reducing the use of means-ends analysis, prevents the stage effect (increase in errors at the subgoal stage) from occurring. Implications for enhancing learning are discussed. (SLD)

Discusses recent advances in cognitive theory and the design of computer-based instruction and suggests implications for the design of authoring tools and tutoring system shells. Highlights include the design of courseware; advanced organizers; knowledge representation; design evaluation; models of knowledge; models of errors; and models of…

Investigates the written syntax of 81 college-able individuals demonstrating a specific learning disability. Supports a control impairment hypothesis, predicting that sentence production errors will be of the same kind as found in the language of writers demonstrating no handicapping conditions. Investigates the correlation of specific cognitive…

Examines whether dual-route models of spelling account for the misspellings of Spanish children of different educational levels. Finds that second graders relied heavily on phonological mediation, whereas eighth graders seemed to use a lexical strategy, and fourth-grade children showed an intermediate pattern. Finds support for dual-route spelling…

Investigates whether intermediate Turkish-speaking and English-speaking learners of Spanish know which unaccusative verbs alternate in transitivity and which ones do not, and whether they find causative errors natural with intransitive verbs. Results confirm similar findings to those reported in English interlanguage and first-language acquisition…

Errant mathematical views are widely found among teachers, their students, and authors of applied mathematics texts. Suggests classroom experimentation, both to confirm the occurrence of these errors, and to apply the appropriate corrective teaching. (Author/ASK)

This study investigated whether cognateness affected verbal-confrontation naming performance in balanced French/English bilingual (N-15 aphasic and 15 nonaphasic) subjects. Results of a picture-naming test showed that cognate pictures were more often correctly named in both languages than were noncognates. Some error types and self-correction…

Examined aspects of dyslexia as they became apparent during the construction of geometrical figures by one student as described by another, one of whom had dyslexic symptoms. Found that both dyslexic and non-dyslexic children encountered many communication problems, but that directional confusion of dyslexic students was one of the major…

Examined preschool children's recall of deictic verbs of motion presented within stories either consistently or inconsistently with the protagonist's viewpoint. Found that 3- and 4-year-olds accurately recalled verbs of motion (come, go, bring, take) that were consistent with the protagonist's viewpoint but made substitution errors of…

Discusses the simplification of forms ending in obstruents by native speakers of Mandarin, in particular two effects that are not obviously motivated by either the native- or the target-language grammars: a tendency to devoice final voiced obstruents and a tendency to maximize the number of bisyllabic forms in the output. (Author/JL)

Longitudinal study examined 6-year-olds' performance in tasks involving a protagonist with partial information about an object or a person. Found that children who demonstrated some understanding of the consequences of limited information access often made other errors. Despite intervening additions of contextual support and clarifications, the…