This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Laura Carter Higley, Herlinda Cancino, Irene Spilka, Ellen J. Rosansky, Martin Taylor, Heidi Dulay, Brian J. Wenk, Henri C. Barik, Steve Jackson, and James D. Morrison.
(1974). A Discussion of the Dulay and Burt Studies. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 4. Participants in a seminar series in second language acquisition held at Harvard University discussed three papers by Dulay and Burt ("Goofing: An Indicator of Children's Second Language Learning Strategies,""Should We Teach Children Syntax?", "Natural Sequences in Child Second Language Acquisition"), and developed several questions and issues regarding specific aspects of those papers. Among the issues raised are: (1) universal language processing strategies; (2) statistical discrepancies between the second and third studies; (3) interference in second language acquisition; (4) theoretical model of morpheme acquisition order; (5) morpheme scoring; (6) statistics and data analysis. Each question posed by the group is followed by a response from Dulay and Burt. [More] Descriptors: Bilingualism, Child Language, Error Patterns, Interference (Language)
(1974). Immersion Classes in an English Setting: One Way for les Anglais to Learn French. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 2. The results of the evaluation of the French immersion program at a school in a unilingual English environment are described. A battery of tests was administered to a random sample of children from the kindergarten and grade one experimental French immersion classes and to a comparison group composed of children following the regular English program. At both grade levels, there was no evidence of a treatment effect on cognitive development. Results of testing numerical and English pre-reading skills indicate that immersion children are as ready to enter an English grade one as are regular program pupils. Although the grade one immersion children are somewhat behind the comparison group in the English language skills tested, they do show some ability to transfer reading skills from French to English. The results for the two groups in arithmetic skills tested in English indicate that immersion children can also transfer mathematical knowledge successfully from French into English. Both kindergarten and grade one immersion children show a greater comprehension of French than children of the same grade levels who receive instruction in French as a second language in a regular English program. The grade one immersion children however do not show the same level of proficiency in French as native French-speaking peers. Descriptors: Arithmetic, Basic Skills, Bilingualism, Cognitive Processes
(1974). A Look at Simultaneous Interpretation. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 4. This paper summarizes the findings of an exploratory study concerned with certain temporal and qualitative aspects of simultaneous interpretation. Six French-English interpreters (2 professionals, 2 students and 2 amateurs) translated tape-recorded passages representing different types of materials from their weaker into their dominant language or vice-versa. As analyzed by computer, the translator's (T's) utterance generally shows the same pattern of temporal relationships as natural speech (by speaker S) but is less rhythmical. T speaks for a greater proportion of time than S and his speech rate vis-a-vis S's is greater in relation to prepared than to spontaneous texts. The synchronization of the 2 speech patterns suggests that T makes good use of S's pauses to deliver his version. Characteristically, T lags behind S by 2 to 3 seconds. Various types of translation departures occur (examples are given), and extent of omission is related to input factors such as S speech rate. A number of other observations are noted. [More] Descriptors: Communication (Thought Transfer), English, French, Interpreters
(1976). Contrastive Analysis and French Gender, Remarks on a Study by Elaine Tarone, Uli Frauenfelder and Larry Selinker. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 8. Before any conclusions can be drawn about the relative complexity of grammatical items, the items should be thoroughly analyzed. For example, learning to use French gender involves much more than learning to recognize formal characteristics which account for gender in nouns; it also requires that semantic gender features be mastered, so that correct forms will be connected with the right meanings. In this study, it is found that six subsets of nouns isolated on the basis of formal properties interact with four semantically classified subsets, yielding 48 "rules" to be learned. Furthermore, correct usage must be combined with adequate reference, which involves still another set of rules, differing not only in number but also in kind from the first two sets. Finally, it should be noted that gender and number, although both appear to involve only dichotomous choices, are not strictly comparable, as number has a diacritical function which gender does not have. [More] Descriptors: Bilingualism, Contrastive Linguistics, Difficulty Level, Error Patterns
(1975). The Critical Period for the Acquisition of Language: Some Cognitive Developmental Considerations. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 6. This paper reviews the biological origins of the critical period hypothesis and the neurophysiological evidence which was initially supplied in support of a critical period for the acquisition of language. Noting the inconclusive nature of neurophysiological evidence, the author suggests that we look to the interplay of affective and cognitive factors in discussing the acquisition of a second language. The main focus of this paper is the consideration of Piagetian cognitive developmental theory in general, and the development of the symbolic function in particular as it relates to the problem of second language acquisition. The suggestion is offered that the onset of Formal Operations may well mark the beginning of the end of a critical period for the acquisition of language. [More] Descriptors: Affective Behavior, Child Language, Cognitive Development, Learning Processes
(1974). The Use of Elicited Imitation in Second Language Acquisition Research. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 2. This paper reports on a study undertaken to investigate the relationship between elicited imitation data and comprehension data, as measured by a picture-identification task and a second language (L2) to first language (L1) translation task, and between elicited imitation data and production data, as measured by a spontaneous production task and an L1 to L2 translation task. The subjects were native English-speaking children attending a French immersion program in grades 1 and 2. Generally speaking, the results suggest that elicited imitation data represent a conservative estimate of second language comprehension skills and a non-conservative estimate of second language production skills. Differences in performance between good learners and poor learners on the tasks are unaccounted for on the basis of sex, age, or exposure to the second language. The errors made by the children are categorized and discussed within Selinker's (1972) interlanguage framework. A model which allows for the interpretation of elicited imitation data is presented, and it is noted that accurate interpretation of these data are dependent upon the location in the model sentence of the syntactic structure being investigated, the number of test items employed, and the length of the model sentence. Descriptors: Bilingualism, Child Language, Cognitive Processes, Comprehension
(1973). A Theoretical Perspective on the Relationship between Bilingualism and Thought. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 1. This paper attempts to specify the ways in which bilingualism might affect cognitive functioning. Two general ways, the "linguistic" and the "non-linguistic," are distinguished. Linguistic explanations explain the effects of bilingualism on cognition as a direct result of the fact that the bilingual has access to two verbal codes. Non-linguistic explanations account for these effects by reference to factors which are extrinsic to, or by-products of, the fact that the bilingual has access to two verbal codes. For example, the greater amount of social interaction which is presumably involved in learning two languages at an early age has been invoked to explain the bilingual's higher level of concept formation. The validity of Macnamara's (1970) theoretical analysis of bilingualism and thought is considered in the light of this distinction. [More] Descriptors: Abstract Reasoning, Bilingualism, Child Language, Cognitive Development
(1978). A Methodological Contribution to the Phonetic Study of Foreigner Talk. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 16. Foreigner talk is the register used by native speakers to make themselves understood by foreigners whose competence in the language is limited. Published studies on foreigner talk have dealt with phonetic variation sparingly and impressionistically. This may be due to the difficulty of imposing experimental constraints on natural linguistic events without introducing excessive artificiality. A method is described permitting systematic analysis of a selected phonetic variable (voice onset time in fortis English plosives) in the context of naturalistic conversations between native speakers and foreigners of varying levels of competence in the language of communication. This paper is intended to encourage greater interest in foreigner talk and to improve the quality of data in experimental phonetics by bringing it closer to the encounter between speaker and listener. Descriptors: Articulation (Speech), Communicative Competence (Languages), English (Second Language), Language Proficiency
(1978). Schools for the Choctaws. The educational system developed by the Choctaw Nation during the nineteenth century began with annuity funding from early treaties which ceded Choctaw land to the U.S. and ended with Choctaw loss of control over their schools in 1899 to the U.S. government. Starting in 1818, missionaries from American Protestant denominations became an important factor in Indian education, establishing early mission schools in Choctaw lands in Mississippi and Alabama which promoted "agriculture, homemaking, Christianity, and citizenship". With the Indian Removal Act of 1830, mission schools were uprooted to follow Choctaws to their new Oklahoma home. The 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (continuing previous support for education, instituting the "Forty Youth Fund" which financed college education for Choctaws) and the Public School Act of 1842 (funds for seven boarding schools–two for boys, five for girls) were landmark decisions. Largely administered by missionary groups, schools were under Choctaw support. While boarding academies and seminaries were the backbone of the school system, neighborhood and Sunday schools (including weekend adult education) were also underway. Interrupted by the Civil War, Choctaw education efforts resumed in 1866 with boarding schools, neighborhood schools, and support for higher education. Federal control of the Choctaw school system resulted from the Curtis Act in 1898. Descriptors: Adult Education, American Indian Education, American Indian Languages, American Indian Reservations
(1974). Speculations on Bilingualism and the Cognitive Network. Working Papers in Bilingualism, No. 2. In the first part of the paper the idea of the cognitive network is developed. The network consists of concepts linked together by relationships which are themselves concepts. Concepts are learned according to simple rules, and the network grows as new concepts are learned. Part II considers the growth and structure of language. The growth of language within the network follows the same rules as the growth of perceptual ability. Labels are attached to some concepts for syntactic transformations to others. Perceptual syntactic relations tend to have syntactic programs as their expression in language. In Part III some problems of bilingualism are considered. The simultaneous growth of two languages presents special problems to an infant. Instead of linking labels and syntactic programs directly to concepts in the network, the infant's linkages must be conditional on extraneous factors. The bilingual infant should have early difficulty with language, but should eventually derive a richer concept structure than a monolingual. Second language learning is seen as a process of breaking down structures that have stabilized in order to replace them with new and more complex structures. Linguistic relativity is real, but occurs primarily in the more abstract realms of thought, not at the perceptual levels. [More] Descriptors: Bilingualism, Child Language, Cognitive Processes, Concept Formation
(1974). A New Perspective on the Creative Construction Process in Child Second Language Acquisition. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 4. Previous work by the authors permitted them to hypothesize the existence of certain universal cognitive strategies that play a significant role in child second language acquisition. Forming the basis of the "creative construction process" in L2 learning, these strategies have heretofore remained unspecified. This paper offers new perspectives on the specific nature of the creative construction process: first, by an attempt to use Brown's notions of semantic and linguistic complexity to account for differences between first and second language acquisition; second, by a clarification of the notions of "learning complexity" and "learning strategy"; and finally, by presenting a new analytical procedure and framework which may be useful in research on children's strategies in acquiring L2 syntax. This new procedure involves an adaptation of Bart and Krus'"Ordering- Theoretic Method," which assumes that there is a logical relationship among items in a group, and which is designed to determine those relationships. The ultimate value of this type of analysis lies in its potential to uncover the sorts of empirical facts needed before one can begin to specify with any confidence the nature of language acquisition strategies. [More] Descriptors: Bilingualism, Child Language, Discovery Processes, Error Patterns
(1974). Testing Hypotheses about Second Language Acquisition: The Copula and Negative in Three Subjects. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 3. Three hypotheses are examined in relation to English copula and negative utterances produced by three native Spanish speakers. The hypotheses are interference, interlanguage and L1=L2, which states that acquisition of a language by second language learners will parallel acquisiton of the same language by first language learners. The results of the study are as follows: (A) In the copula construction, utterances such as "Is a book" probably represent interlingual identifications of the English "it's" and the Spanish "es." They do not appear to be produced by interference from the Spanish syntactic device of subject omission. (B) The acquisition sequence of the English negative by the subjects does not correspond to the "stages" described by Klima and Bellugi for children acquiring English as a native language. This result tends to disconfirm a strong version of the L2 = L1 hypothesis which would claim that the acquisition order in both the first and second language should be the same. (C) It is difficult to say whether acquisition of the negative by the subjects is systematic and developmental because these concepts are not clearly defined in any versions of the interlanguage hypothesis. (D) Two of the subjects evince different strategies in acquiring the negative. [More] Descriptors: Bilingualism, English (Second Language), Error Patterns, Interference (Language)
(1973). The Texan: Man of Many Faces. This guide is a study of the many cultures that went into the making of Texas, from Indians who inhabited the land before the arrival of Europeans to the different European nationalities that explored and settled Texas. This work can be used by students as a text in secondary level social studies programs, or by a teacher as a reference or resource material to supplement other texts. Also, it could be used in bilingual classrooms to present the historical contributions of Spanish-speaking peoples in Texas, or as a conventional Texas history text. Probing into the conflict that arose from the clashes of the different cultures as they mingled in Texas, the book explores the causes for these conflicts, showing them to be multifaceted. The history of Texas is traced from colonization, through independence, to statehood, up to the 1970s, culminating with the emergence of an ethnic and cultural consciousness in the Mexican Americans. [More] Descriptors: American Indian Culture, American Indians, Biculturalism, Cross Cultural Studies
(1975). Aspects de l'Assimilation Linguistique dans une Communaute Francophone de l'Ontario (Aspects of Linguistic Assimilation in a French-Speaking Community of Ontario). Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 5. This report is the result of a sociolinguistic survey of the French-speaking minority of Welland, Ontario, most of which is bilingual. Interviews were carried out and taped in French with sixty French-speaking adults. Two series of closed questions and one series of open questions were asked, the former yielding detailed data concerning the linguistic aptitude and linguistic habits of the person interviewed. Results indicate that the subjects' linguistic aptitudes and habits are influenced by four principal variables: age, sex, social rank, and language or habit considered. Given the variation of linguistic aptitudes and habits according to age, predictions can be made concerning the evolution and preservation of French. The open questions yielded a significant linguistic corpus which should make possible a detailed analysis of spoken French in Welland. English elements in the subjects' French are also reported in relation to the four above-mentioned variables. A sample questionnaire is appended. (Text is in French.) [More] Descriptors: Age Differences, Bilingualism, English (Second Language), French
(). Cross Cultural Attitude Inventory [and] Test Manual. The Cross-Cultural Attitude Inventory provides a means for measuring the degree of positive or negative feeling which Mexican-American and Angle students (ages 3 to 18) have for the two cultures. Present test validity is based on face validity and the rationale behind the item selection and construction procedures. The inventory also provides a springboard from which other ideas may come. The inventory is comprised of 24 test items that relate to language, facial characteristics, foods, games, clothing, sports, and flags. The use of five faces beneath each item seems to work well with children in a wide range of age, sex, and ethnic categories. The test provides a score based on an equal number of items representative of each culture. It is a relatively quick instrument to administer (20-30 minutes), and is easy for both test administrator and subjects to understand. The age range of subjects who can be expected to understand and relate to the test is from 3 to 12 years, although older subjects have been used; the test should be administered individually to those of junior-high age or older. Administration of the test is discussed as to time considerations, physical facilities, materials, language considerations, special considerations by age group, and instructions to students (ages 3 through 8 and ages 9 and above) and terms to be used for test items. The test is scored by assigning a value of 1 to 5. A copy of the Test Data Recording Form is provided. [More] Descriptors: Anglo Americans, Attitude Measures, Cultural Influences, Educational Testing