We tested the hypothesis that syntactic and narrative comprehension of a natural sign language can serve as the linguistic basis for skilled reading. Thirty-one adults who were deaf from birth and used American Sign Language (ASL) were classified as skilled or less skilled readers using an eighth-grade criterion. Proficiency with ASL syntax, and…

Examines the perception of /r/ and /l/ by adult Japanese learners of English as a function of their exposure to authentic English. Results indicate that while extended exposure may improve /r/-/l/ identification accuracy, it does not ensure perfect perceptual mastery. (32 references) (Author/CK)

Using a corpus of 18 child-adult conversations, this study distinguished adult utterances that solicited information from those soliciting acknowledgment (i.e., where the response was predictable, and the utterance served a predominantly social function). Both types of utterance were usually responded to by children, but the form of response…

Examined effect of word class (nouns vs. verbs) on second language pronunciation accuracy of Korean-English adult bilinguals whose age of arrival in the United States ranged from 6 to 23 years. Transcriptions of their productions of English indicated they were more accurate in pronouncing verbs than nouns and were more accurate in detecting…

Examines the perception of four English vowels by adult native speakers of German. The role of foreign-language experience in the perception of second-language vowels was examined through labeling responses to members of synthetic continua in which vowel duration and spectrum were varied factorily. (42 references) (GLR)

Native speakers recorded utterances in three role-play contexts: speech to presyllabic infants, foreign language instruction, and adult conversation. For babytalk, speakers neglected, reduced, or modified lexical tonal information in favor of simplified and clarified intonation contours. The implications regarding tone acquisition in children and…