Thematization, the relative frequency of a discourse referent, and topicalization are conceptualized as related discourse functions. In a probe recall experiment, a word with a thematized referent was a better recall probe than a word with a nonthematized referent. Also, an agent noun was a better prompt than a recipient, and this semantic…

Five orders of approximation to normal English prose were constructed; 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, and 100th plus. Five cloze tests were then constructed by inserting blanks for deleted words in 5 word segments (5th order), 10 word segments (10th), 25 word segments (25th), 50 word segments (50th), and 100 word segments of five different passages of…

By offering solutions to long-standing problems like quantification, relativization, topicalization, and negation in Korean syntax, the present dissertation aims to show the limitations of any approach which concentrates on the sentence as a linguistic unit or which takes semantics to be interpretative. One possible solution suggested here is a…

Subjects read narratives about a meal at a fine restaurant or a trip to a supermarket. The same 18 items of food, attributed to the same characters, were mentioned in the same order in the two stories. As predicted from current formulations of schema theory, foods from categories determined to be part of most people's restaurant schemata were…

Fifty-six third graders were randomly assigned to two treatment groups, in a study of the relationship between clause structure and the readability of written texts. The treatment groups read sets of passages which were identical except for certain word-order modifications. The dependent variables were silent- and oral-reading comprehension, rate…

Indicates that each instructional unit was composed of several mini-lessons rather than representing an integrated and related unit organized around a central purpose. Finds that lesson parts failed to make logical connections to previous or following parts. Concludes that the nature of reading lessons could be a contributing factor to the…

Investigation of discourse structures in bilingual (German-English) families indicated that parents' discursive strategies were related to the children's acquisition of the minority language and that children were more likely to speak the minority language if the respective parent employed a more child-centered mode of interaction than the parent…

Defines concession and suggests eight criteria which may be used when producing materials designed to practice the use of connectives such as "although" to express concession in English. These criteria include materials, which reflect typically unexpected consequences and a culturally familiar world, and practice, which goes beyond the…

Concludes that children could attend to texts selectively when reading or listening to expository prose, and when reading, but not in listening to narrative prose. (FL)

Investigates the relationship of reading ability and age to children's recall of expository text after reading and analyzes children's sensitivity to text structure. (MKM)

This study of a 5-year-old girl with sensorineural hearing loss examined the effect of supplementing a pragmatically based procedure of focused stimulation with structured opportunities for verbal practice using vertical constructions. Results indicated that focused stimulation was an effective treatment procedure, especially when enhanced by the…

The conversations of 10 deaf children (ages 10-12) and their families at dinnertime were examined, and spoken and signed verbal exchanges were documented. Results showed that deaf children responded more loquaciously to questions than they did to statements or expressions of ideas, and the children were unsuccessful in continuing topics of…

The aim of this study was to gain insight into the extent to which health education text writers apply writing principles derived from cognitive psychological theory. Seventeen professional text writers of health education materials participated in a qualitative study, consisting of a rewriting task combined with a think-aloud procedure and a…

Impromptu speech can be defined in different ways: in terms of situational context, linguistic characteristics, and real-time processing. These approaches are not contradictory. There are certain situations that call for rapid processing of spoken discourse, and the needs of that processing are reflected in the structure of the text. The degree of…

Seventy good readers and 70 poor readers who were students at a community college participated in a study that examined the role of adversative connectives in helping students integrate information across sentence boundaries. Three functions of adversative connectives were examined: contrast or conflict, parallel points, and foregrounding…