Sometime before their second birthday, many children have a period of rapid expressive vocabulary growth called the vocabulary spurt. Theories of the underlying mechanisms differ: Accumulator models emphasize the accumulation of experience with words over time to yield a spurtlike pattern, while cognitive models attribute the spurt to cognitive…

This paper reports the preliminary results of a study examining the role of structural overlap, language exposure, and language use on cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in bilingual first language acquisition. We focus on the longitudinal development of determiners in a corpus of two French-English children between the ages of 2;4 and 3;7. The…

The cross-categorical use of nouns and verbs poses a challenging problem to young language learners because they are known to be less willing to accept that a single form of a word be used for more than one linguistic purpose (e.g., one-form/one-function principle). The present study investigated whether children under 3 years of age are able to…

Languages differ in their preferences for particular intensifying constructions. While intensifying adjectival compounds (IACs) (e.g. "ijskoud, ice-cold") are productively used to express intensification in Dutch and English, in French this construction is hardly productive. Consequently, French-speaking learners may encounter…

Analyses the advertising slogan and its relationship to the various functions of language: expressive, incitative, referential, phatic, metalinguistic, and poetic. (AM)

Examines the development and usage of abbreviations in modern French. (AM)

Certain intellectual phenomena, e.g. racist attitudes, are based on fixed formulas of everyday speech. The linguistic roots of such evils must be discerned before they can be exorcised. Some cliches, e.g. racist ones, insinuate themselves into verbal behavior structures. French cliches reflect certain collective French attitudes: positive towards…

A synthesis of a research project treating the relationship between the comprehension of English words, the ability to use them and their actual usage by members of various social groups in Paris. Topics covered are: methodology, classification of words, reactions of informants and interpretation of data. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

Vocabulary development exercises for students who are able to communicate relatively well but need vocabulary enrichment are described. (MSE)

A good collection of French proverbs and their English equivalents, classified according to subject. It is suggested that proverbs be used to promote the learning of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, ease of self-expression, and appreciation of French culture. (AMH)

Filled with examples of French slang and colloquialisms, this article notes the importance of learning such everyday language to speak French correctly. (CHK)

Designed to promote an awareness of the everyday French language, this supplementary textbook was developed to enable students of French to use idiomatic expressions from the early learning stages to the more advanced levels. The units are arranged as follows according to the verb component of the expression: "avoir,""etre,""faire," the three…