Little is known about grammatical sophistication in the written language of school-age children. This study provides normative data on the occurrence of different complexity levels of major grammatical parameters in written compositions of nine-year-old children. These parameters include productivity of language, correctness of language usage, the…

The distinction between formal and casual English as reflected in the lexicon, in phonology, and in syntax is studied. Formality is treated as separate from other categorizations of language such as geographical origin of the speaker, social class of the participants, or specific context of discourse. The study was restricted mainly to the use of…

Argues for a more active role for the college English instructor in helping students write and speak standard English more effectively. (SW)

Prison language, primarily the lexicon, at the Women's Correctional Center (WCC) in Columbia, South Carolina is described. This center is considered here as a speech community and a subculture. Inmates have developed speech habits and vocabulary which indicate the social structure of the prison and inmate values. They coin or metaphorically extend…

This is the first of five volumes of recorded, transcribed conversation of 150 Spanish children from Madrid. Some 25 hours of normal, unrehearsed conversation serve as a linguistic corpus illustrative of vocabulary development at a specific age level. Half-hour recording sessions were made in groups of three, consisting of boys or girls from the…

This is the second of five volumes of recorded, transcribed conversation of 150 Spanish children from Madrid. Some 25 hours of normal, unrehearsed conversation serve as a linguistic corpus illustrative of vocabulary development at a specified age level. Half-hour recording sessions were made in groups of three, consisting of boys or girls from the…

This transcription of radio conversations on the English language between Albert H. Marckwardt and Randolph Quirk, jointly produced by The British Broadcasting Corporation and The Voice of America, indicates that American and British English have never been so different as people have imagined and that the dominant tendency has been toward…

The first of a two-volume study of the relative accessibility of French vocabulary in French-speaking Canada presents statistical data concerning the frequency, distribution, valence, and accessibility of vocabulary related to 16 fundamental centers of interest found in normal conversation. The scope, procedures, and results of the study are…

The second of a two-volume study of the relative accessibility of French vocabulary in French-speaking Acadia, this study presents statistical data concerning the degree of difficulty of recall of vocabulary related to 16 fundamental centers of interest found in normal conversation. The data are derived from responses of 700 students ranging from…