Developmental relationships in the acquisition of English syntax: writing vs. speech

The acquisition of English morpho-syntactic elements was studied in five adult L2 learners, all native speakers of Spanish, while they were enrolled in a pre-university intensive English program. Data were elicited through a variety of paired oral and written tasks over a three and a half month semester. Samples were analyzed to determine whether speech or writing served as the primary source of morpho-syntactic innovation. The five subjects demonstrated notable differences in their patterns of language development across both modalities. In general, however, writing appeared to be the preferred medium for the emergence of new morpho-syntactic forms and for the development of grammatical accuracy.     

A review of reading prosody acquisition and development

Reading and Writing - The present work reviews the current knowledge of the development of reading prosody, or reading aloud with expression, in young children. Prosody comprises the variables of...     

Interactional coherence in asynchronous learning networks: A rhetorical approach

Numerous studies have affirmed the value of asynchronous online communication as a learning resource. Several investigations, however, have indicated that discussions in asynchronous environments are often neither interactive nor coherent. The research reported sought to develop an enhanced understanding of interactional coherence, argumentation, and topic drift in asynchronous learning environments. Rhetorical structure theory (RST) was used to analyze and assess the coherence of several asynchronous discussions. Findings include that asynchronous discussions take the form of dynamic rhetorical structures which are continuously redefined as new messages are added to a thread, that argumentation may be more prevalent in some discussions than others, that topic drift does not seem to occur as a matter of chance, but rather topics are manipulated to suit the individual preferences of the participants, and that the use of threading differs considerably from one discussion group to another. By demonstrating the applicability of RST, argumentative analysis, and topic drift analysis to asynchronous discussion, this research provides a framework and a terminology for fine-grained analysis of interactional coherence. By showing the applicability of RST to asynchronous discussion, this study has offered evidence that essay assessment technology could be developed for evaluating the quality of online discussions. The development of rhetorical networks as a graph theory for representing the semantics of asynchronous interaction could lead to a richer knowledge representation technology for inter-agent collaboration.     

儿童词汇习得理论述评

儿童在习得语言的过程中究竟怎样习得和学习词汇、词汇意义和指称，研究们从不同角度提出了不同的理论假设，并作了相应的实验研究。这些理论假设主要有：(1)花园变化学习理论，认为儿童学习词汇是一个联想式学习过程，即把语音与感性经验的显性方面联系起来。(2)制约原则论，认为儿童习得词汇除了通常的联想式学习过程外，还必须利用某种演绎限制机制，以便对词汇意义范围和指称范围做出限制。(3)社会语用理论，认为儿童习得词汇从本质上来说是完全社会化的过程，他们学习词汇不需要特定的语言限制，需要的是具有可塑性的、强有力的社会认知技能，儿童正是依赖这种技能去理解各种情境中交际的意图的。本对儿童词汇习得理论进行了综观研究，对各理论假设作了分析和述评。     

Interactional Synchrony and the Origins of Infant-Mother Attachment: A Replication Study

This study sought to replicate previous work in testing the hypothesis that interactions of dyads developing secure attachment relationships would be characterized by disproportionately synchronous and those of dyads developing insecure relationships by disproportionately asynchronous exchanges. Additionally, a priori hypotheses were tested regarding expected differences in the interactional histories of dyads developing insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments. Results supported the study's predictions in all cases. Dyads developing secure attachments were observed at 3 and 9 months to interact in a disproportionately well-timed, reciprocal, and mutually rewarding manner; dyads developing insecure relationships were disproportionately characterized by interactions in which mothers were minimally involved, unresponsive to infant signals, or intrusive. Within the insecure group, as predicted, 3- and 9-month interactions of avoidant dyads were characterized by maternal intrusiveness and overstimulation; resistant dyads were characterized at both ages by poorly coordinated interactions in which mothers were underinvolved and inconsistent. These findings are discussed as they lend to a growing body of evidence concerning associations between differential interactional histories and attachment quality.     

词汇附带习得在阅读中应用研究综述

词汇附带习得(IVA)是词汇学习的一种方式,在L2/FL环境下,它主要发生在阅读中,是阅读带来的一种副产品。文章主要总结了近年来词汇附带习得在阅读方面的应用,基于此对IVA作较完整的探讨。     

基于语料分析的英语互动元话语评价功能

尝试在Hyland的元话语人际模式的框架内,调查分析英语求职语篇中互动元话语的使用情况和分布特征。结果显示,英语求职语篇中各类互动元话语资源呈现不均衡的运用频率,其中自称语的使用比率明显高于其他几类互动元话语资源。在五类互动元话语资源的次范畴中,介入标记语、模糊语呈现的频率较高。研究结果说明,元话语作为一种隐性的评价资源具有评价赋值功能,也说明元话语的使用与语类有着密切的联系。     

评价话语的互动功能研究

语言具有交际功能。在连续的话语互动中,说话人通过评价达到不同的交际目的,不同交际目的的评价在话语流中处于不同的会话结构中。当评价话语位于序列之前时,可以引发询问新信息、讲述故事或建议等行为,也可以直接引发无言语的动作;评价话语位于序列之后时,具有结束或解释的功能,结束功能的评价话语用在他人提供帮助或他人讲述的话语之后,解释话语用在建议、决定或动作之后,对这些行为可能产生的负面结果进行解释;评价话语位于核心相邻对核心时,除了评价行为以外,还可以执行建议、阻止行为。     

实习支教多元互动评价体系构建研究

实习支教已经开展了十多年,要实现其双赢的目标,关键是建立健全实习支教评价体系。实习支教评价体系应由一元评价转为多元评价,实现任课教师评价、实习支教学校评价、实习支教指导教师评价、师范院校综合评价、实习支教教师评价相结合的多元评价体系,并实现各评价主体之间的互动。该评价体系有利于调动实习支教教师以及实习支教学校等各方面的积极性,提高乡镇中小学学生的学习水平,从而实现真正意义上的双赢。     

Book floods and comprehensible input floods: providing ideal conditions for second language acquisition

In the field of second language (SL) learning there is now little argument that one of the ideal conditions for learning is the provision of ample language input, whether it is oral or written. The Fiji “Book Flood” was one of the earliest studies of the effect of the provision of opportunities for regular reading in the classroom on growth in English, an SL, and it strongly supported the above observation. This chapter will examine the debate about the provision of only comprehensible input and the need for learners to focus on form also. It will argue that the Fiji Book Flood provided ideal conditions for both comprehensible input and for focus on form. The findings showed that an enriched diet of regular reading, by students of Grades 4 and 5 in eight schools, accelerated the development of their second language proficiency in reading and listening, relative to those of matched control groups. The experiment was carried on for another year and the gains were sustained; the impact of the experiment was extended to writing and English grammar as well. Interestingly, this enhancement in SL proficiency was found to have a positive effect upon children's proficiency in the first language also.     

Psychological Development and Females' Sport Participation: An Interactional Perspective

Dorothy Hams's writings have consistently reflected a philosophy that emphasizes the importance of an integrated sport science perspective for understanding females' participation and performance in the physical domain. Her advocacy for a 7ldquo;somatopsychic” approach included a consideration of the sociological, psychological, biological, and physical factors that interact to influence patterns of involvement and performance potential. Although a complete integration of subdisciplines within the sport sciences would be a formidable task, the purpose of this article is to first review selected research findings pertaining to females' sport socialization, psychological development, and biological and cognitive maturation. Then, a heuristic model is proposed as an initial attempt to represent an interactional approach to understanding females' sport participation and as a framework for future research.     

Interactional effects of the environment on interviews

This study investigates the effect of the environment factor on discourse mode and content in an interview situation. Fifteen eight-year-olds were interviewed in three specific and different locations in their school (classroom, doctor's office and playground) that formed the three experimental groups. Analysis of the interview data (propositional discourse analysis) shows that each experimental group produced a specific type of speech characterized by the occurrence of particular language markers.     

A Glimpse of Interactional Strategies Used in Group Discussion in the EFL Context

On the basis of literature review,this paper discusses what interactional strategies are in group discussions conducted in the EFL classroom.Two frameworks for interactional strategies are investigated to explore the types of interactional strategies.This aims to shed light upon the analysis of interactional features in face-to-face communication.     

Instructional conditions for using dynamic visual displays: a review

A review of research related to the learning effect of dynamic versus static visual displays in media-based instruction is presented. The analysis reveals that the dynamic visual display (DVD) is generally more effective than the static visual display (SVD). However, the research findings do not consistently support the superior effect of DVDs. These conflicting findings seem to be related to the different theoretical rationales and methodological approaches used in various studies and suggest that the use of DVDs should be determined selectively. From the literature review and theoretical discussions about instructional functions of DVDs, we propose six instructional conditions under which DVDs can be effectively used. The conditions are for: (a) demonstrating sequential actions in a procedural task; (b) simulating causal models of complex system behaviors; (c) explicitly representing invisible system functions and behaviors; (d) illustrating a task which is difficult to describe verbally; (e) providing a visual analogy for an abstract and symbolic concept, and (f) obtaining attention focused on specific tasks or presentation displays. Finally, several important considerations for the design and presentation of DVDs are discussed.     

Interactional models of learning disabilities: Evidence from students entering foster care

Children are increasingly entering foster care due to primary or secondary neglect in the home environment. They provide a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between learning and extrascholastic environments. Achievement and intelligence scores were obtained for 3483 school‐age children during the first 30 to 60 days of foster care placement. Results showed average to low‐average mean achievement and IQ, with primary academic deficits in basic skill areas. One or more severe (≥1.75 SD) regressed discrepancies was found for 25.4% of children, and 76.6% showed one or more areas of academic underachievement (≤25th percentile). Results are interpreted as supporting interactional models of learning disability etiology that recognize environmental, neurologic, instructional, and behavioral variables. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

汉语以语素为基础造句（上)

欧洲语言中语素原则上必须先构成“词”，才能用来造句。“词”有自己的规定形式，而汉语中的词汇单位并没有。汉语与欧洲语言在句法上的基本区别就在于语素可以直接参与造句。人们之所以会认为汉语也有词，是受了英语词形贫乏化的影响。汉语语素可以直接作为句子成分，也可先构成字组或短语用作句子成分。语素构成字组，再扩充为短语，进一步构成句子，都靠反复应用7种语法关系；7种语法关系通过“语序框架”起到造句的作用。