The development of the Cambridge Assessment of Spoken English (CASE) is reviewed, with particular reference to the trialling and validation of the rating scales. The objectives of the test are to assess an individual's ability to produce and process spoken English; demonstrate the ability to communicate in English through the use of grammatical,…

A discussion of the treatment of suffixes in Korean linguistic theory argues that, in view of recent clitic typology, Korean case markers and verbal suffixes are better analyzed in lexical rather than in syntactic terms. Evidence for this approach is found in phonological phenomena, morpheme and allomorph selection, and compounding. The most…

The essays in this volume are divided into four sections: (1) "Ethnic Diversity and National Language," (2) "Bilingualism: Its Causes and Consequences," (3) "Models and Methods," and (4) "Language Spread: A New Direction," The first part deals with the social conditions that influence acquisition of a second…

In order to provide a critical test of a proposed procedure for explaining and validating a rules theory, this paper examines four items of communications research which make claims regarding the generality and practical necessity of the empirical relationships they investigate. The paper demonstrates the utility of the procedure for rigorously…

This report consists of two major sections. The first describes the theory and methodology of the Romanian-English Contrastive Analysis Project (RECAP), and the second section presents the first aberrant corpus in RECAP. Also provided are a list of signs and abbreviations and three annexes consisting of two translation exercises and one…

The purpose of this study was to describe the function-form relationships in a child's developing language by establishing a methodology for examining the child's early propositions and the predications which express them, identifying the points in the syntactic hierarchy at which different "meanings" are encoded, and investigating the…

Using second grade children, this study was designed to investigate the differences (or lack of differences) among the Interview, the Picture Stimulus Interview, and the Free Play Situation techniques in the categories of productivity, thought groups, compound structures, complex structures, and words per thought group as a means of gaining a…

The properties of four different tests of the treatment effect in experiments using linguistic materials are examined. (Author/RM)

Brown addresses Schonbach's criticism (previous article) of Brown's tribute to Lenneberg (Cognition, June 1976). Brown reviews various research on codability, recognition, and memory of color names; and encourages the development of new generalizations. Although Whorfian hypotheses are appropriate for studying semantic differences, they have not…

Although the linguistic properties of sign languages, and of American Sign Language (ASL) in particular, are beginning to be studied, little work has been done on the functional properties of sign. Four experiments are reported in which signed messages were subjected to varying amounts of disruption using repetitive temporal interruption. Results…

Examines the changes in how researchers perceive the relationship between theories of language and theories of language acquisition. It is determined that a theory of grammar is a necessary component in native language acquisition and may also be required for second-language acquisition. (Author/CB)

Contrasts two approaches for investigating second-language teaching, arguing that the educational approach, which starts with a pedagogical issue and examines it through pedagogical, theoretical, and empirical sources, is more comprehensive than the linguistic approach, which primarily consists of the applications of linguistic research.…

Answers to theoretical questions about the place of input in a formal second language acquisition model are dependent on a distinction between two kinds of learner hypotheses. Type-N hypotheses require "negative evidence" for testing, while Type-P hypotheses are tested on the basis of "positive data" alone. (Author/CB)

Research findings on semantic cohesion within a sentence and its effect on individuals' performance in using the sentences illustrate how research methodology can influence research outcomes. (MSE)

Research by Labov dealing with everyday speech and its relation to thinking and reasoning is critiqued, and Cooper's detailed criticism of Labov's research is discussed. Researchers should pay attention to actual speech in settings that are natural, rather than using only quantitative abstractions from artificial and restricted verbal encounters.…