Reports on a translation exercise undertaken by Polish learners of English which revealed how metaphorical expressions vary between the two languages and how this variation confuses learners. Suggests that group discussion and comparison of metaphors in both languages will increase students' comprehension and use of metaphors. (nine references)…

This collection of symposium papers on varieties of the English language used in Ireland includes: "The Role of Irish English in the Formation of Colonial Englishes," by P. Trudgill; "Anglo-Irish Verse in Translation from Irish," by P. L. Henry; "The Methodology of Urban Language Studies," by J. Milroy;…

This study is a detailed analysis of the phonological development of Sylvia, a bilingual child, in her acquisition of American English and Brazilian Portuguese from the age of 1 year, 7 months to 3 years, 8 months. The study is divided into four stages: ages 1.7 - 1.9; 1.9 - 2.1; 2.1 - 2.3; and 2.3 - 2.8. Up to the age of 1.9, the same…

Educational programs for teachers of English as a Second Language must devote more attention to differences between the standard varieties of American and British English, with instruction focusing on the major orthographic, morphological, syntactic, collocational, and lexical differences. (CB)

This is an introductory study of the mutual intelligibility among the various dialects and languages in the Manitowinini family. Specific languages considered include Powhatan, Lenape, Natick, Otchipwe, and Nanticoke. The goal of the study is not merely to comprehend inter-tribal relations better, but also to discover the actual…

This study is a description of the linguistic differences between three Persian dialects. The underlying aim of the study is to provide the linguistic facts necessary to evaluate the implications of divergence between the dialects for students of Persian. It would appear that if students experience difficulty in adjusting from one dialect to…

Clark's 1987 Principle of Contrast seems inconsistent with the synonymy exhibited by inflectional affixes in languages with inflection classes. But if inflection class membership identifies the inflection class of the lexemes to which it attaches, then inflection affixation complies with this principle. Grammatical implications are suggested. (76…

It is suggested that the static model of language which is prerequisite for contrastive analysis is inadequate in pinpointing potential difficulties in second language learning. The student learning graphemic-phonetic correspondences encounters two types of difficulties not exposed by contrastive analysis: dialectal difficulties and reading…

Papers on lexicographic research in Quebec (Canada) include: "Indications semantiques dans les dictionnaires bilingues" ("Semantic Indications in Bilingual Dictionaries) (Johanne Blais, Roda P. Roberts); "Definitions predictionnairiques de 'maison, batiment, et pavillon'" ("Pre-dictionary definitions of 'house,…

Papers in comparative and historical linguistics are presented. "The Independent Development of Mid Tone in Suma" (Mary Bradshaw) extends earlier research on tone change in Gbaya languages to Suma, a Gbaya language previously not included. "Diachronic Morphology: An Overview" (Brian Joseph) reviews diachronic morphological…

Courses in English for special purposes, particularly in business, should be extended to native speakers of English. Problems of intercultural communication occur not only when people operate across linguistic boundaries but also when those people share a common language, particularly as new non-native varieties of English are becoming more…

The linguistic theory of contrastive analysis, which provides pragmatic insights into the teaching of foreign languages, can be equally successful when applied to the teaching of one dialect of a language to speakers of its other dialects. This paper briefly illustrates how a theoretically constructed hierarchy of difficulty, originally designed…

A comparison of the linguistic contexts of Scotland and Taiwan focuses on three aspects: (1) existence of two linguistic codes belonging to the same language family; (2) the status of one of those languages as the standard set by a larger, more powerful neighbor from whose perspective any other variety is likely to look like a dialect; and (3) the…

Suggests that the variety of English spoken in Brunei (BNE), sometimes called nonstandard, is still at an early stage of development and there is little awareness among its speakers of some differences from standard English (STE). Results of a grammaticality judgment test administered to 106 university students, designed to find nonstandard verb…

The validity of the theory of crucial similarity in language interference is investigated. The theory proposes that when a first and a second language are structurally similar in some aspects, the second language learner will assume similarity in other aspects, causing interference. In this study, the German of first grade students whose teacher…