Research on child language acquisition should distinguish between different possible causes of variation and not just attribute variation to individual variation. An alternative analysis using a different methodology can show that children's patterns of acquisition are actually relatively similar. (Author/CB)

This literature-based review examines the relationship between the acquisition of segmental awareness and the acquisition of alphabetic literacy. Cited studies show that the segmental analysis ability of most dyslexics is very poor and suggest one factor may be related to the conscious representation of speech on which the analytic capacity…

Concludes that there may be differential effectiveness of method of reading instruction according to sex, with females finding letter training simpler than word training and males finding the reverse. (FL)

A theory is advanced for constructing an English dictionary for learners of English as a second or foreign language primarily for business purposes. The approach attempts to incorporate as much of the natural context of this language use as possible. While the general cognitive frame for the dictionary would be business, it would represent various…

Second-grade students' reading proficiency was studied by determining the influence of rhyming or nonrhyming items on their recall of random letter strings, using visual and auditory presentations. Good and poor readers differed in their use of phonetic coding in working memory. (MH)

Suggests that cognitive semantics is governed by principles similar to prosodies in phonology. Illustrates this claim by words referring to negative states, events, and properties in English and in Polish, arguing that they carry 'negative prosodies' that spread over other lexical items. It is suggested that the semantic prosodies of some triggers…

The need for phoneme awareness and methods of fostering phoneme awareness are discussed, along with available assessment measures, research findings, and phonological awareness training programs. Educators are urged to use phoneme awareness techniques for assessment and remediation when appropriate. (CR)

Compared the effects of TEACH, a perceptual remediation approach, to those of phonetic tutoring on first graders whose performance in the SEARCH Program during kindergarten indicated they were at risk for reading failure. There was no evidence for significant academic effects of participation in the TEACH program for at-risk children. (GLR)

Forty children (ages 9-12) identified as having dyslexia on the basis of intelligence and achievement tests were evaluated. Results imply that a test of phonological sensitivity and another of nonsense word decoding identified children who were dysphonetic. Nondysphonetic disabled readers were older and had higher verbal intelligence quotients…

This study examined the interaction of acoustic-phonetic information with higher-level linguistic contextual information during the real-time speech perception process in child, young adult, and older adult listeners. Findings indicated that target word predictability influenced the timing and nature of the real-time recognition process, including…

Four activities for French language classroom use are presented, including a simulation of the relationships and communication within a family; pronunciation instruction through phonetic transcription; cultural awareness through students' analysis of their own and their parents' specific memories; and analysis and comparison of a literary text and…

A study exploring the differences between first- and second-language word recognition strategies revealed that second-language listeners used more higher level information than native language listeners, when access to higher level information was not hindered by a competence-ceiling effect, indicating that word processing strategy is a function…

Analyzes changes in oral communication skills of five American adult learners who participated in a five-week study abroad program in Spanish. Subjective analysis of recordings of participants upon their return show that four participants increased their command of the vocabulary and were more at ease in discourse interaction. (14 references)…

This paper provides an Optimality Theoretic account of how Hungarian learners of English acquire /[epsilon]/ and /[ash]/. It is hypothesized that as the learners' pronunciation becomes more nativelike, L1 transfer substitutions will diminish; non-transfer substitutions will be especially prevalent in the intermediate stages, and that all learners…

Spelling strategies were examined based on error analysis and strategy reports for errors and correct spellings for 50 Grade 4 and 5 students with and without spelling difficulties. Based on their own reports, all students possessed a repertoire of effective spelling strategies. Strategy use, however, differed as a function of spelling accuracy…