In speaking a child sometimes makes constructions in which a sequence of separate utterances expresses a semantic relation not expressed by either utterance. These "vertical constructions" are the main point of this study. Previous studies of construction in child language have largely dealt with sentences. In this study, sentences are…

In an attempt to improve students' written expression, this study tested two assumptions: (1) that if students were led through a series of oral language experiences to a realization of the relationships between oral and written sentence structures which they were encouraged to practice, they would write a variety of sentence structures; and (2)…

To determine the variety of syntactic patterns that potential English teachers would normally use and the possible differences in their oral and written discourse, 1000-word oral and written language samples were collected from 21 student teachers. These samples were divided into T-units and classified according to 23 sentence patterns based on…

Russian word order is varied to suit the communicative requirements of the speaker. The present study tests the hypothesis that American students of Russian use word order differently from native speakers, using the same order for different communicative tasks. Study results support the hypothesis. (CHK)

Presents a case study of the English of early missionaries operating in South Africa. The study characterizes the interlanguages of some German and Dutch missionaries, points out the disparity between the usage patterns found in missionary letters and modern linguists' characterizations of their abilities, and suggests missionary English as an…

Intended for preservice and inservice teachers at all educational levels, but especially for those in English education classes, this book examines the foundations of grammar instruction and supplies some definitions and examples of grammar usage. Part one of the book explores relevant language research, reasons for teaching grammar, the…

The purposes of this study were (1) to provide a method for the quantitative study of grammatical (syntactic) structures which is coherent, systematic, and broad, yet capable of refinement to accommodate details, and (2) to search for the developmental trends in the frequency of various grammatical structures written by students of average…

Right dislocations are expressions of the following form: (1) "They told the Grand Jury a number of lies, the Nixon men." (2) "We find we have to limit our social schedule, my husband and I." (3) "Mary always wears a frown, the ugly witch." They are found also almost exclusively in the spoken language. This paper…

This paper defines the grammatical role of a particle in Swahili in terms of the semantic information which it contributes to all utterances in which it occurs. The particle -A occurs in the syntactic configuration Noun 1 -A Noun 2 and has been traditionally described as reflecting relations of possession and attribution between the two nouns in…

Answers to questions asked of college freshman composition students indicated that one-third lacked confidence in their ability to write because of their ignorance of the rules of grammar and inability to use correct grammar. This may be a result of the textbook presentation of grammar as a straightforward set of rules to be mastered without…

The report is a frequency analysis of vocabulary and sentence patterns in the English language. The corpora used are a media sample, a discussion session, elicited sentences, and words elicited for frame sentences. The outputs are the following frequency tables: (1) Semantic frequency of combined corpus (media, discussion, elicited sentences)…

The report is a frequency analysis of vocabulary and sentence patterns in the Japanese language. The corpora used are a media sample, a discussion session, elicited sentences, and words elicited for frame sentences. The outputs are the following frequency tables: (1) semantic frequency of combined corpus (media, discussion, elicited sentences)…

The report is a frequency analysis of vocabulary and sentence patterns in the Swahili language. The corpora used are a media sample, a discussion session, elicited sentences, and words elicited for frame sentences. The outputs are the following frequency tables: (1) semantic frequency of combined corpus (media, discussion, elicited sentences)…

The identification and study of 20 syntactical patterns responsible for much of the structural ambiguity found in literary composition can develop in students an audience awareness. When they realize that such constructions as "a dull boy's knife" and "the club will be open to members from Monday to Thursday" can be misinterpreted, they take more…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of selected facets of the oral language performance of pre-first grade children to readiness for beginning reading. The oral language of two groups of kindergarten children in interaction with an adult was compared. One group was black, the other Caucasian; both were from inner-city…