From geertje.leemans at hum.uva.nl Wed Jul 21 10:56:59 1999 From: geertje.leemans at hum.uva.nl (Geertje Leemans) Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 12:56:59 +0200 Subject: no mail Message-ID: No mail Cancel subscription Geertje Leemans Carel Fabritiuslaan 44 NL-1181 TE Amstelveen The Netherlands tel: +31 20 6476367 Email: geertje.leemans at hum.uva.nl (let op! per 1 juli is dit adres niet meer bereikbaar) From Blazenka.Brozovic at public.srce.hr Mon Jul 5 01:34:18 1999 From: Blazenka.Brozovic at public.srce.hr (blazenka@public.srce.hr) Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1999 01:34:18 -0000 Subject: Symposium announcement Message-ID: 2nd ANNOUNCEMENT INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM EARLY COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT - ECLD 99. Interdisciplinary approach New perspectives and their application Dubrovnik, October 1- 4, 1999 e-mail: langconf at antun.erf.hr website: http://www.erf.hr/langconf HELD UNDER THE AUSPICES OF Croatian Ministry of Science and Technology IN COLABORATION WITH Academy for Developmental Rehabilitation Croatian Association for Child Neurology Croatian Logopedics Association Croatian Psychological Association Croatian Society for Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology ORGANIZING COMMITTEE* Mladen Hedever Milos Judas Melita Kovacevic (Co-Chair) Goranka Lugomer-Armano Marta Ljubesic (Chair) Vlatka Mejaski-Bosnjak Milena Zic-Fuchs *All the members are from the University of Zagreb SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM COMMITTEE Mladen Hedjever (Croatia) Bernhard Hurch (Austria) Asim Kurjak (Croatia) Melita Kovacevic (Croatia) Marta Ljubesic (Croatia) Hermann Schöler (Germany) SYMPOSIUM LANGUAGE English and Croatian (posters can be presented in Croatian as well, but an extensive summary in English is required) THEMATIC AREAS Neurobiological Development Preverbal Communication Language Development Language Development in Exceptional Children Neuroimaging and Language Bilingualism SYMPOSIUM VENUE The Symposium will be held at the International Center of Croatian Universities in Dubrovnik-ICCU, Don Frana Bulica 4, 20 000 Dubrovnik, Croatia WELCOME ADDRESS It is our great pleasure to invite you to participate in the Early Communication and Language Development-ELCD 99 - an international and interdisciplinary symposium that will be held at the International Center of Croatian Universities in Dubrovnik. Early human communication and language acquisition represent foundations of learning and mental development. Those of us who deal with these issues as researches, clinicians or educators and who have a background in humanities and biomedical and behavioral sciences are responsible for the efficient introduction of new knowledge and technologies into clinical and educational environments. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance to maintain and enhance communication between professionals and scientists. Years of research and clinical experience in the area of early development have confirmed our belief that interdisciplinary communication enables remarkable progress. Therefore we invite you to join us in Dubrovnik. As you probably know, Dubrovnik is an enchanting medieval town and it is under UNESCO's protection as a monument of culture. We believe that the Mediterranean ambience and the charm of the old town and its walls will make your stay in Dubrovnik inspiring and unforgettable. We look forward to hosting you in Dubrovnik Organizing Committee PRELIMINARY SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM PLENARY TALKS Anne Baker (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) James Booth (Northwestern University, USA): "The development of neuro-cognitive networks for component processes of oral language and reading" Werner Deutsch and Markus Wenglorz (TU Braunschweig, Germany): "How can communicative abilities grow when development is severely disturbed?" Wolfgang U. Dressler (University of Vienna, Austria): "The emergence of morphology: A constructivist approach" Lynne Sanford Koester (The University of Montana, USA): "Nonverbal communication between deaf and hearing infants and their parents: A decade of research" Ivica Kostovic and Milos Judas (University of Zagreb, Croatia): "Structural basis of the developmental plasticity in the human cerebral cortex" Sanja Kupesic and Asim Kurjak (University of Zagreb, Croatia): "Ultrasonic assessment of brain development" Asim Kurjak (University of Zagreb, Croatia): "3D sonography in the early detection of morphological and genetic disorders" Hanus Papousek (Germany): "The way to verbal symbolisation" Mechthild Papousek (University of Munich, Germany): "Significance and failures of preverbal communication" Roger Thompson (Franklin and Marshall College, USA): "Paleological monkeys and analogical apes, but what about us? Comparative perspectives on symbolic mediation of emergent abstract relations" FORMAT PLENARY (45 min + 15 min) POSTERS (posters posted for 1.5 hrs; presenters are expected to attend their poster session; posters' timetable will be available on website as of September 15) Poster workshops: thematic poster session and discussion (posters posted for 1.5 hrs; each presentation should not be longer than 10 minutes). Some suggestions for the poster presentation: - poster size - 1m X 1.5m (width X height) - posters should be placed on the board during the 30 minutes immediately preceding the start of your session and removed when the session ends. - if the poster is in Croatian an extended summary in English is required - please make sure to bring push pins for posting the poster - please bring an appropriate number of handouts so that you can share them with other participants. We encourage you to prepare all the materials prior to the Symposium because of limited reproduction facilities at the venue. DISCUSSION SESSION (60 min) It will be possible to have an informal exchange of ideas related to a particular topic. If participants express interest in that form of work this will be arranged on site. PANEL (optional): (60 min) Will be arranged on site depending on time available BOOK OF ABSTRACTS Abstracts will be published together with the final Program and distributed at the Symposium. The final program including all news and changes will be available to participants on the Symposium's website as of September 15. PROCEEDINGS We plan a special issue of the Croatian Review of Rehabilitation Research where a selection of Symposium papers will be published. CANCELLATION POLICY Cancellation should be made in writing to the secretariat of the ECLD 99. All refunds (50% of fee) will be made after the Symposium. HOTEL ACCOMODATION We kindly ask the participants to make their own hotel reservations choosing from the list of hotels. The hotels listed below are offering a special discount for Symposium participants. When making a reservation make sure to let the hotel know you are on Early Communication and Language Development symposium participant. Hotel...................Single...........Double Argentina............60/54*...........47/43 Park.......................36.................26 Bellevue................30.................25 Lero.......................27................17 *US dollars, (prices vary depending on the view - sea or other) All prices include breakfast. It is possible to have supper at a low rate. Accommodation in private rooms and apartments is also available. For further information contact Atlas Travel Agency Phone: ++ 385 20 44 22 22 Fax: ++ 385 20 411 100 HOTEL INFO ARGENTINA near the sea, a 20- minute walk from the venue Fax/phone: ++ 385 20 426 525 Phone: ++385 20 432 524 Address: F. Supila 14 PARK 20 min by bus to the venue, bus stops outside the hotel and the venue Fax/phone: ++ 385 20 412 646 Address: Setaliste kralja Zvonimira 39 BELLEVUE near the sea, all rooms have a sea view, a 5- minute walk to the venue Phone: ++ 385 20 413 306 Fax: ++ 385 20 414 058 Address: P. Cingrije 7 LERO 8- minute walk to the venue Phone: ++ 385 20 411 455 Fax: ++ 385 20 432 501 Address: Ive Vojnovica 14 More information on all hotels available on: http://www.dubrovnikhotels.hr http://www.laus.hr/hotdub/search/html/alpha.html For information on Dubrovnik see: http://www.hr/dubrovnik TRAVEL Dubrovnik has an easy access by road, sea and air. It has ferry connections with Bari, Italy and there are direct flights from Rome, Paris and Ljubljana. Via Zagreb or via Split it is linked to major European cities. Cilipi airport is about 20 km from the city. On September 30 bus transfer to the venue will be provided for ECLD '99 participants. Croatia Airlines is the Symposium sponsor and the Official Carrier for the ECLD 99. Croatia Airlines will grant all ECLD participants a 25% discount on flights to Zagreb or/and Dubrovnik (excl. Paris; this discount is applicable on Croatia Airlines flights only). Applicable in the period September 23 - October 10, 1999. If you would like to take advantage of this special offer, please contact your nearest Croatia Airlines office or visit Croatia Airlines website: http://www.ctn.tel.hr/ctn/index-en.html SOCIAL PROGRAM Cocktails and welcome reception, a concert, a guided excursion with dinner, an Old Town tour and an art exhibition will be organized for all participants. Half-day and whole day excursions are also available at extra cost. For all additional information regarding pre- and post symposium tours you may contact directly Atlas Travel Agency at Phone: ++ 385 20 44 22 22 Fax: ++ 385 20 411 100 GENERAL INFORMATION Continuing Education Credit It will be possible to obtain continuing education credits from the Croatian Medical Chamber. Those interested should contact the Organizers during the Symposium. Certificate of Attendance Upon request it will be possible to obtain a Certificate of Attendance. Please contact the Symposium assistants at the registration desk. Visa and Passport With a few exceptions, most visitors need a valid passport for entry to Croatia. Very few nationalities must have a visa. Please check with your travel agent or the nearest Croatian Embassy for details. Invitation letter Upon request the Organizing Committee will send you an official invitation letter. We assume that it might help some participants to make arrangements for their participation in the Symposium, but it is in no way binding for the Symposium Organizer. Weather and clothing In early October the weather in Dubrovnik is still warm and sunny. Average sea temperature is 21 C, and average air temperature is 24 C, but it can get colder and rainy. Therefore light clothes and walking shoes are recommended, but make sure to bring some warmer clothes, too. Currency and Exchange Croatian kuna (HRK) is the official currency. Foreign money may be exchanged at banks, exchange offices, post offices, hotels, airports and travel agencies. All major credit cards are widely accepted. REGISTRATION FORM Last Name First Name Institution Address Post code Country e-mail Fax: Phone: Accompanying person Last Name First Name REGISTRATION FEE ..............................before August 31..........after August 31 or on site Participants...............200 USD............................250 USD Students....................100 USD.............................125 USD Daily registratio....... 60 USD................................70 USD Accompanying person will be charged for meals only Registration fee includes Symposium facilities and materials - programs and abstracts, the opening reception, a guided excursion with dinner, coffee, refreshments and lunches during the Symposium. PAYMENTS MAY BE MADE BY CREDIT CARD: American Express Diners Eurocard/MasterCard Total fee (USD): Card number: Expiry date: Cardholder’s name: Signature: Date: ON GIRO ACCOUNT: Payments in HRK possible in Croatia only and should be made to 30109-603-39609 (for ERF, Zagreb, Kuslanova 59a); Payments in US dollars should be made to Privredna Banka Zagreb: 30101-621-42 7020-280-9182800-132344-471 Vegetarian Menu: Yes No IMPORTANT DEADLINES June 30, 1999 Submission of Abstracts July 31, 1999 Acceptance of abstracts will be confirmed by e-mail (or by regular mail for those who have not provided their e-mail address)) August 31, 1999 Advance registration September 15, 1999 Program available on website CORRESPODENCE ADDRESS: ECLD 99 Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation Kuslanova 59a 10 000 Zagreb Croatia Fax: ++ 385 1 229950 Phone: ++ 385 1 2338022 e-mail: langconf at antun.erf.hr website: http://www.erf.hr/langconf From ann.dowker at psy.ox.ac.uk Fri Jul 9 19:28:34 1999 From: ann.dowker at psy.ox.ac.uk (Ann Dowker) Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 20:28:34 +0100 Subject: word frequency databases Message-ID: Does anyone know of any databases of spoken English word frequencies,other than the MRC psycholinguistic database? Many thanks, Ann From jvwoude at calvin.edu Mon Jul 12 13:26:32 1999 From: jvwoude at calvin.edu (Judith Vander Woude) Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 09:26:32 -0400 Subject: Email address Message-ID: Does anyone know Kay Mogford-Bevan's email address? If you could send your reply off the list, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Judy ***************************************************************************** Judith Vander Woude, Ph.D. Calvin College 3201 Burton SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546 Phone: 616-957-6289 From edwards.212 at osu.edu Tue Jul 13 20:58:23 1999 From: edwards.212 at osu.edu (Jan Edwards) Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 15:58:23 -0500 Subject: child-directed speech Message-ID: Here is a question from a colleague (Keith Johnson): What is a good paradigm for eliciting both child-directed and adult-directed speech? He and a student of his have been looking at adult discourse and they have found that speaking rate is cyclic such that faster speech is produced within discourse units, and slower intervals occur around discourse boundaries. They are interested in comparing rhythmic patterning in adult-directed and child-directed speech and want to know how to elicit comparable speech samples in these two conditions. You can reply directly to him at: kjohnson at ling.ohio-state.edu Thanks! Jan Edwards From brosda at icp.inpg.fr Sun Jul 18 15:10:01 1999 From: brosda at icp.inpg.fr (Stefanie Brosda) Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 17:10:01 +0200 Subject: - transcription classes for infant vocalisations - Message-ID: hello everybody - does anybody know of the existence of courses on phonetic transcription of child speech, especially infant babbling ? any hint is greatly appreciated be it courses in europe or other continents or maybe the moon ... sincerely, stefanie /\/\ /\ /\ / /--\/ \ /\ /__\/ / /\/ /\ \/--\ / \/ / \/--\ \ \ Stefanie BROSDA Institut de la Communication Parlee (ICP) - INPG UPRESA CNRS No 5009 46 Av. Felix-Viallet 38031 Grenoble Cedex 1 FRANCE Tel: (+33) 4 76 57 48 27 Fax: (+33) 4 76 57 47 10 E-mail: brosda at icp.inpg.fr From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Mon Jul 19 18:45:08 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 18:45:08 +0000 Subject: L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious difficulties with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an anecdote or are there data in the literature to which I can refer? Many thanks in anticipation, Annette K-S _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From ymb at uclink4.berkeley.edu Mon Jul 19 18:50:16 1999 From: ymb at uclink4.berkeley.edu (Yael Biederman) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 11:50:16 -0700 Subject: Language development in deaf children Message-ID: Dear Info-CHILDES, If anyone knows the names of researchers studying language (or literacy) development in deaf children in either New Zealand or Costa Rica, could you please pass them on to me? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance! Yael Biederman University of California, Berkeley Yael Biederman Graduate School of Education University of California, Berkeley ymb at uclink4.berkeley.edu From degraff at MIT.EDU Mon Jul 19 22:38:18 1999 From: degraff at MIT.EDU (Michel DeGraff) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 18:38:18 EDT Subject: Morphlogy in L2A Message-ID: RE message from a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk on Mon, 19 Jul 1999: > It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious difficulties > with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an anecdote or are there > data in the literature to which I can refer? Many thanks in anticipation, > Annette K-S Dear all, I have a related request. I'd be very much interested in recent and not-so-recent references on inflectional and derivational morphology in (untutored) in L2A (and/vs. L1A). I am particularly interested in the acquisition paths of derivational morphemes. E.g., do children and adults follow similar paths in acquiring the morphophonology and semantics of derivational affixes in the `target' language. Thanks in advance, -michel. ___________________________________________________________________________ MIT Linguistics & Philosophy, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge MA 02139-4307 From pdale at u.washington.edu Mon Jul 19 23:53:44 1999 From: pdale at u.washington.edu (P. Dale) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:53:44 -0700 Subject: assessment measures for Greek Message-ID: I've been asked by a friend if there are any standardized assessment measures suitable for 3-4 year old children acquiring Greek as L1. Suggestions would be welcome. Feel free to respond to this message, or directly to my email below. Thanks. ******************************************************************** * Philip S. Dale, Professor * * Psychology Dept., Box 351525 tel: 206-543-4329 * * University of Washington fax: 206-685-3157 * * Seattle, WA 98195 email: pdale at u.washington.edu * ******************************************************************** From m.a.forrester at ukc.ac.uk Tue Jul 20 14:29:01 1999 From: m.a.forrester at ukc.ac.uk (Mike Forrester) Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 15:29:01 +0100 Subject: Lectureships at Kent (UK) Message-ID: LECTURESHIP(S) IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNTIVE PSYCHOLOGY Application are invited for two posts: Lecturer in Developmental Psychology and Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology. For the Cognitive post, research interests in any area of cognitive psychology will be welcome; for the Developmental post, applicants should have an interest in social, cognitive, or language development. Applicants will be expected to seek BPS (British Psychological Society) chartered status, if they have not already obtained it. For both posts, the starting date is 1st October 1999 or as soon thereafter as possible. Our intention is that interviews will be held in the week beginning 23rd August. Salary will be according to experience, on either the Lecturer A scale : (£16,655-£21,815) or Lecturer B scale: £22,726-£29,048) Reference A99/100 for the Developmental post Reference A99/99 for the Cognitive post Informal enquiries to Professor Derek Rutter (+44 01227) 827573, email: D.R..Rutter at ukc.ac.uk or (for the Developmental Post) Dr. Michael Forrester (+44 01227 823489, email: M.A.Forrester at ukc.ac.uk Please telephone the Personnel Office for further Particulars on 01227 827837 (24 hours) or 823674 (Minicom), quoting the appropriate reference number Closing date for applications: Friday, 13th August 1999. From crutchley at fs1.ed.man.ac.uk Mon Jul 26 16:09:59 1999 From: crutchley at fs1.ed.man.ac.uk (Alison Crutchley) Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:09:59 GMT Subject: ICPLA website Message-ID: Can anyone help me with an up-to-date URL for the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association website? I am having no luck with the one below, but it is quite old. http://tpowel.comdis.lsumc.edu/icpla/icpla.htm Many thanks, Alison Crutchley ................................................................... Dr Alison Crutchley Centre for Human Communication and Deafness, [formerly CAEDSP] School of Education, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. Tel: +44 (0)161 275 3390 (direct) / 3389 (office) Fax: +44 (0)161 275 3373 alison.crutchley at man.ac.uk Visit the Centre website: http://www.man.ac.uk/CHCD ................................................................... From heather at wfc.com.tw Tue Jul 27 01:58:20 1999 From: heather at wfc.com.tw (heather at wfc.com.tw) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 09:58:20 +0800 Subject: ICPLA website Message-ID: I'll post this to the list in case any one else is interested: Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics Official Journal of the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association http://www.tandfdc.com/jnls/clp.htm -Heather "Alison Crutchley" on 07/27/99 12:09:59 AM To: info-childes at childes.psy.cmu.edu cc: (bcc: HEATHER/ALE) Subject: ICPLA website Can anyone help me with an up-to-date URL for the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association website? I am having no luck with the one below, but it is quite old. http://tpowel.comdis.lsumc.edu/icpla/icpla.htm Many thanks, Alison Crutchley ................................................................... Dr Alison Crutchley Centre for Human Communication and Deafness, [formerly CAEDSP] School of Education, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. Tel: +44 (0)161 275 3390 (direct) / 3389 (office) Fax: +44 (0)161 275 3373 alison.crutchley at man.ac.uk Visit the Centre website: http://www.man.ac.uk/CHCD ................................................................... From jr111 at cus.cam.ac.uk Tue Jul 27 13:47:02 1999 From: jr111 at cus.cam.ac.uk (James Russell) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 14:47:02 +0100 Subject: talking chimps Message-ID: The new Savage-Rumbaugh work on chimps speaking via speech synthesisers is (literally) front page news in the UK. Can somebody tell me where it is published? James Russell From mdonahue at uic.edu Tue Jul 27 11:30:56 1999 From: mdonahue at uic.edu (Mavis Donahue) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 11:30:56 +0000 Subject: Faculty Position as Director of Early Intervention Program Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lsc at th.com.br Tue Jul 27 18:38:07 1999 From: lsc at th.com.br (Leonor Sciliar Cabral) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 15:38:07 -0300 Subject: Faculty Position as Director of Early Intervention Program Message-ID: Mavis Donahue wrote: > Please help us to identify candidates for our faculty position as > Director of our Early Childhood Research and Intervention Program. > Nominations are welcome. > > Thanks for your help! > > ************************************************************************************** > > The College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago > invites applications for a tenured faculty position as Director of our > Early Childhood Research and Intervention Program. Re-affirming our > commitment to early intervention and school improvement in urban and > culturally diverse communities, we seek an individual with the > ability, commitment and enthusiasm to provide leadership to our Early > Childhood Research and Intervention Program. Its mission includes: > providing opportunities for faculty and students to conduct research > on recommended practices for early intervention for young children and > their families; offering a model demonstration site for preparing > professionals in family-focused early intervention; and supervising > quality services to families and their infants and toddlers, > particularly those with or at risk for disabilities. Offering both > center-based and home-based programs, the core of the Early Childhood > Research and Intervention Program is partially supported by recurring > state funds. For the Director position, a record of scholarly > activities consistent with a research university, and successful grant > writing in early intervention is required. > > Please send letter of application, curriculum vitae, a statement of > research interests, evidence of good teaching, examples of scholarly > productivity, and three letters of reference. These materials should > be sent to: > > Victoria Chou, Dean > College of Education, m/c 147 > University of Illinois at Chicago > 1040 W. Harrison Street > Chicago, IL 60607 > > Review of applications will begin on August 23, 1999 and will continue > until the application is filled. The University of Illinois is an > Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity > Employer.***********************************************Mavis > DonahueProfessor and Chair, Special EducationCollege of Education, m/c > 1471040 W. Harrison StreetUniversity of IllinoisChicago, IL > 60607312-996-8139 (Voice)312-996-5651 (Fax) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From E.Baines at ioe.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 17:50:25 1999 From: E.Baines at ioe.ac.uk (Ed Baines) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 13:50:25 -0400 Subject: transcribing video Message-ID: Dear all, I am in the process of setting up a project examining children's conversations and social interaction on school playgrounds. We hope to use a camcorder (not digital) and radio microphones to enable recording of the dialogue as well as the identity of the speakers and context etc. My concern is with the transcription end of the project. Whereas for audio recordings a transcriber has the benefit of a foot pedal to briefly rewind the tape to enable easy transcription, there does not seem to be anything similar that could be used with video. Does anyone know of a device like a footpedal that could be used in conjunction with video or suggest any simple (cheap) solutions? Many thanks, Ed ps apologies for the cross posting. ---------------------- Ed Baines E.Baines at ioe.ac.uk Psychology and Special Needs Institute of Education 25 Woburn Square London WC1H OAA Phone: 0171 - 612-6294 Fax: 0171 - 612-6304 From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 14:21:02 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 14:21:02 +0000 Subject: L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: I recently put out an email on the net asking about grammatical gender in L2 adult learners. >> It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious difficulties >> with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an anecdote or are there >> data in the literature to which I can refer? Many thanks in anticipation, Most of the replies are actually personal anecdotes similar to my own experience, so this does seem to be a neglected research area. My question is: does grammatical gender stand out as a continuing problem in otherwise fluent L2 speakers? Are there other cross-linguistic areas of language which fluent speakers continue to find difficult (e.g. say, useage of definite/indefinite articles) and children learn effortlessly? I think there are some important theoretical questions lurking here. Here are all the responses I got: >Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 21:44:11 +0200 >From: Joseph Hilferty >X-Accept-Language: en >MIME-Version: 1.0 >To: Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith >Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender >X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by lingua.fil.ub.es id > JAA26497 > >Hi, > >You might want to get into contact with my colleague, Carme Muñoz, >since I think she might know some of the references on L2 acquisition >of grammatical and natural gender. I'm sure Carme wouldn't mind your >asking her for the references. Her e-mail is: >munoz at lingua.fil.ub.es >Anyway, I might add that as a nonnative speaker of Spanish and Catalan, >I find grammatical gender to be difficult at times. The main thing is >to try to remember word endings. Words that have no gender marking are >a real pain, because there's no morphophonology to hang onto. >Joe > From: Elezar at aol.com Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 14:20:36 EDT Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender To: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk MIME-Version: 1.0 I don't have any references to give, but the info about gender agreement is not that anegdote. I am a bilingual Russian/English speaker and can tell you what I had most difficulties with in written and spoken modalities. Subject-verb agreement is the worst. But then, in English there is not much of gender agreement going around. Which is not the case with Russian. All the people I no, who took Russian as a second language, have a tremendous amount of difficulties with gender agreement, because in Russian gender plays an important role for suffixation and endings for cases. If you have more questions about Russian - do not hesitate to ask. Elena Zaretsky, MS, CCC-SLP, ABD at BU Department of Psychology, Human Development, Jean Berko Gleason adviser. Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 11:28:39 -0700 To: Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith From: Fred Dick Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender The best person to ask on this is Vera Kempe (as Brian MacW has probably just told you) - I think he has her new email address. Cheers, Fred Dick ********************************* Frederic Dick Center for Research in Language Deparment of Cognitive Science 9500 Gilman Drive, Mail Code 0526 La Jolla, CA, 92093-0526 Phone: 858-534-3926 Fax: 858-534-6788 X-Sender: ys54 at postoffice.mail.cornell.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 13:48:55 -0400 To: Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith From: Yasuhiro Shirai Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender Status: RO You might have already heard about this but, Andersen, R. W. (1984?). What's gender good for, anyway? In R. W. Ansersen (Ed.) Second Languages: A cross-linguistics perspective. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. would be a good starter. ********************************** X-Sender: jisa at mailhost.univ-lyon2.fr Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 15:52:11 +0100 To: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk From: Harriet Jisa Hello, We met at dinner in St Sebastian. I was sitting on the other side of Liliana. I saw your question over Childes about gender in L2. I've lived in France for almost 20 years, teach in French, work in French etc. My French is completely fluent - somewhat of an American accent, but... I write, read, do everything in French. But if I have a bête noire in my life it is gender ! Early on I found a technique which helps when I'm writing and have time to worry about gender - I use the possessive determiner and see if it "sounds right". That usually works, except for words that start with a vowel. Then I scream out to my children or colleagues for help. I also use adjectives like vert/verte I don't know why, but I have much more of a feeling/intuition with singular possessive determiners or adjectives than with a definite or indefinite articles. I think that Patsy Lightbrown wrote an article a while back (maybe in the early 80s) about gender in L2 French. Hope to see you again sometime Harriet _________________________________________ Harriet JISA, Professeur Dynamique du Langage Maison Rhone-Alpes de Sciences de l'Homme 14, avenue Berthelot 69363 Lyon Cedex - FRANCE Phone: +33 O4 72 72 64 12 - +33 04 72 72 64 26 (bureau/office) Fax: +33 04 72 72 65 90 E-Mail: Harriet.Jisa at univ-lyon2.fr _________________________________________ _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 16:03:12 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 16:03:12 +0000 Subject: More on L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: >From: "Cote, Linda (NICHD)" >To: "'Annette Karmiloff-Smith'" >Subject: clarification; RE: L-2 acquisition of gender >Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 10:20:05 -0400 >MIME-Version: 1.0 > >Dear Dr. Karmiloff-Smith: > >I do not know of any references in response to your question: > >It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious difficulties with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an anecdote or are there data in the literature to which I can refer? > >However, I presume that your question is appropriate only for L-2 learners >whose native language did not include gender agreement? (e.g., >English-French). >Certainly a native speaker of French learning Spanish would NOT be expected to >have this problem? You may need to delve into more Education-based research >directed toward classroom language teachers to find supporting literature. > >Best wishes, > >Linda >Linda R. Cote, Ph.D. >Child & Family Research >National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, NIH >Suite 8030 >6705 Rockledge Drive >Bethesda, MD 20892-7971 >e-mail: LC140v at nih.gov >phone: 301-496-5798 >fax: 301-496-2766 > From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 17:05:24 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 17:05:24 +0000 Subject: More on L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: >Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:46:20 -0700 (PDT) >From: "Dan I. SLOBIN" >To: Annette Karmiloff-Smith >Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender >MIME-Version: 1.0 I've thought about gender and other L2 problems on and off, >though have no references for you. But more anecdotes, for what they're >worth: > I learned German quickly and effortlessly as a 14-year-old >gymnasium student in Vienna, during my father's Fulbright year there. >I've read and spoken German a lot in the almost 40 years since then--and >gender is still problematic. What amazes me is that it is problematic >even for some high-frequency, very common words. Apparently it is >possible for a adolescent/adult L2 learner/user to encounter words >thousands and thousands of time, process them quickly and easily in >comprehension, and never keep track of gender. For some words I >oscillate between two genders, but for others even find all three genders >possible. In this regard, it might be interesting that various Yiddish >dialects have reduced the three German genders to two, as have Dutch and >Scandinavian (and there's certainly research on that). > My general opinion is that L2 mastery is hampered by distinctions >that aren't routinely made in L1. This is certainly true of English >articles for L1 speakers of Russian and Turkish, in my experience. I have >colleagues who are exquisitely fluent English-speakers, but who still >haven't solved the mysteries of a/the. Interestingly, this is evident >only in their writing. When I listen to them, I hardly ever notice the >problems with articles. This must have something to do with the problems >that they have in acquisition, since comprehension almost always proceeds >easily without attention to "a" vs. "the" (similarly for comprehending >German). > Another obvious candidate is tense/aspect. Wolfgang Klein, for >example, has written what I consider to be the definite analysis of the >present perfect in English--yet he makes the usual German-speaker's >errors in use of that form in his spoken English. Nini, too, hasn't >figured out the present perfect in her generally fluent English. Again, >this is a form that can most often be ignored in comprehension. (And I >have similar problems with tense/aspect systems in Russian and Spanish.) > But I think that word-order variation for the pragmatics of >topic/focus, given/new, etc., seems to be readily accessible to >L2-learners. I think I have a good feel for how to manipulate word order >in Turkish, Russian, and Spanish--and the patterns are different in those >three languages. But this is not something that one would notice in L2 >English, of course, given our limited use of word-order variation. > I've discussed these issues as "first-language thinking in >second-language speaking" in my paper in the Gumperz & Levinson volume, >_Rethinking linguistic relativity_ (CUP 1996). > >Let me _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 17:54:19 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 17:54:19 +0000 Subject: last on L-2 and gender till september Message-ID: The following article has a discussion and quantified data on an L-2 adult fluent speaker, regarding gender errors: Volterra, V. & Bates, E. Selective impairment of Italian grammatical morphology in the congenitally deaf: A case study. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 1989, 6:3, 273-308. _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 18:33:35 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 18:33:35 +0000 Subject: L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: >Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 09:03:37 -0700 (PDT) >From: "Dan I. SLOBIN" >To: Annette Karmiloff-Smith >Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Excerpt from: Slobin, D. I. (1996). From "thought and language" to >"thinking for speaking." In J. J. Gumperz & S. Levinson (Eds.), >_Rethinking linguistic relativity_ (pp. 70-96). Cambridge: Cambridge >University Press. > > >FIRST-LANGUAGE THINKING IN SECOND-LANGUAGE SPEAKING > > There is something dissatisfying in limiting ourselves to evidence >that is so bound up with the acquisition and use of native languages. I >have also suggested that the stability of grammaticized categories in >historical language change can be taken as evidence of the cognitive >importance of those categories for speakers. In conclusion, I would like >to point to another type of evidence that seems to support my proposal >that the ways in which learning a language as a child constrains one's >sensitivity to what Sapir called "the possible contents of experience as >expressed in linguistic terms." > > Consider the small collection of linguistically encoded >perspectives that we have been examining: temporal contours of events >marked by aspectual forms, movement and trajectories in space (and also >indication of definiteness of participants mentioned in connected >discourse). These are precisely the sorts of things that make it so hard >to master the grammar of a second language. For example, it is very hard >for English-speakers to grasp the Spanish perfective/imperfective >distinction that is lacking in our native language. In fact, we seem >never to fully master this system in Spanish. By contrast, we have little >difficulty in figuring out how to use the Spanish progressive and perfect, >or the Spanish definite and indefinite articles--since we have already >learned how to make decisions about the linguistic expression of these >notions in English. But there is nothing inherently easy or hard about >*any* of these Spanish distinctions. For example, native French speakers >have no trouble with the Spanish imperfective, since they have a similar >category in French; but the progressive and perfect pose problems to them, >since these are not French ways of looking at events. Turkish speakers >have difficulty with definite and indefinite articles in learning to speak >Spanish, English, and German, since there are no definite articles in >Turkish. German speakers of English use the progressive where they should >use simple present, although Turks do not make this error in English, >since Turkish uses progressive aspect and German does not. Spanish >learners of English object that we make too many obscure distinctions with >our large collection of locative prepositions and particles. And so on. >In brief, each native language has trained its speakers to pay different >kinds of attention to events and experiences when talking about them. >This training is carried out in childhood and is exceptionally resistant >to restructuring in adult second-language acquisition. > > Much of value for the thinking for speaking hypothesis could be >learned from a systematic study of those systems in particular second >languages that speakers of particular first languages find especially >difficult to master. Suggestive data of precisely this sort come from a >European Science Foundation project, "Second Language Acquisition by Adult >Immigrants" (Perdue, in press). Two examples, one from the domain of time >and the other from the domain of space, are instructive. > > Consider Italian- and Punjabi-speaking immigrants to Britain >(Bhardwaj, Dietrich, & Noyau, 1988). Italian and English are both >"tense-prominent" languages--that is, every finite clause must be >grammatically marked as to its deictic relation to the moment of speaking. >And Italian immigrants readily acquire English past-tense forms. This >makes it possible for them to construct narratives from a >situationally-external perspective, relating a succession of past events >as seen from the present, as is done in Italian. These speakers make far >more frequent use of tense-marking than of the English progressive aspect. >Punjabi, by contrast, is an "aspect-prominent" language, and Punjabi >immigrants make heavy use of the English progressive to narrate events >"from within," from the perspective of the protagonist, in analogous >fashion with the narrative use of the Punjabi imperfective. > > In the domain of space the influence of Punjabi on learners' early >organization of English is striking (Becker, Carroll, & Kelly, 1988). In >Punjabi, spatial locations are regions named by nouns, analogous to >English expressions such as "on THE TOP of the pile" and "at THE BACK the >house". Punjabi learners of English often treat prepositions as nouns, >producing forms such as "put THE ON please", "put THE DOWN chair", and >"pull THE UP" (Becker et al., p. 69). English relational terms have >apparently been reanalyzed as names of locations. In addition, Punjabi >focuses on states as the results of processes (somewhat like the Spanish >use of participles discussed above). This pattern also transfers to >English. For example, a newspaper lying on a table is referred to as "put >in the table" by a Punjabi-speaker. The investigators suggest that "he >imagines that the newspaper was put there by someone. In Punjabi one says >exactly the same thing" (Becker et al., p. 73). > > The European Science Foundation team concludes (Bhardwaj et al., >1988, p. 86): > > "The influence of the lexico-grammatical systems of both the SL >[source language] and the TL [target language] can be observed in the >acquisition process. The picture which emerges is quite a simple one--an >adult acquirer tries to discover in the TL a system that is similar to >that of his SL, and if he does not discover any, he tries to construct >one; but since it is the TL material he has to use, the outcome is >invariably a hybrid which is an autonomous system (often consisting of >loosely or tightly integrated sub-systems) which partakes of some features >of both the `parent' systems but is identical to neither." > > I propose that the grammaticized categories that are most >susceptible to SL influence have something important in common: *they >cannot be experienced directly in our perceptual, sensorimotor, and >practical dealings with the world*. To be sure, all human beings >experience sequences of events that have particular temporal contours, put >objects in locations, and so on. Indeed, animals do the same. But only >language requires us to *categorize* events as ongoing or completed, >objects as at rest or as at the end point of a trajectory, and so forth. >Other categories seem to be less dependent on purely verbal >categorization. I would imagine, for example, that if your language lacked >a plural marker, you would not have insurmountable difficulty in learning >to mark the category of plurality in a second language, since this concept >is evident to the nonlinguistic mind and eye. Or if your language lacked >an instrumental marker it should not be difficult to learn to add a >grammatical inflection to nouns that name objects manipulated as >instruments. Plurality and manipulation are notions that are obvious to >the senses. [*] > >---------------------------------- >[*] You may have difficulty remembering to use these markers on every >occasion--as Chinese speakers of English do not always mark the plural, to >take one possible example. But this is a matter of automatizing attention, >which may be difficult in adulthood. What I am proposing is that some >grammaticized categories may be obvious on nonlinguistic grounds. For >such categories, the problem in second-language learning is not to make >the proper conceptual distinction, but to treat it as obligatory. >---------------------------------- > > But there is nothing in everyday sensorimotor interactions with >the world that changes when you describe an event as "She WENT to work" or >"She HAS GONE to work," or when you refer to the same object in successive >utterances as "A*car" and "THE car." Distinctions of aspect, >definiteness, voice, and the like, are par excellence, distinctions that >can only be learned through language, and have no other use except to be >expressed in language. They are not categories of thought in general, but >categories of thinking for speaking. It seems that once our minds have >been trained in taking particular points of view for the purposes of >speaking, it is exceptionally difficult to be retrained. > > It is interesting that Wilhelm von Humboldt anticipated these >questions as well. He wrote (1836/1988, p. 60): > >"To learn a foreign language should therefore be to acquire a new >standpoint in the world-view hitherto possessed, and in fact to a certain >extent this is so, since every language contains the whole conceptual >fabric and mode of presentation of a portion of mankind. But because we >always carry over, more or less, our own world-view, and even our own >language-view, this outcome is not purely and completely experienced." > >If we substitute von Humboldt's term, "world-view," with my proposed term, >"thinking for speaking," we have here a powerful statement about the role >of language in what Sapir called those "contents of experience [that are] >capable of expression in linguistic terms." > >CONCLUSION > > In sum, we can only talk and understand one another in terms of a >particular language. The language or languages that we learn in childhood >are not neutral coding systems of an objective reality. Rather, each one >is a subjective orientation to the world of human experience, and this >orientation *affects the ways in which we think while we are speaking*. > From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 19:35:02 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 19:35:02 +0000 Subject: More on L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: >Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 14:00:23 -0500 >From: "Patsy M. Lightbown" >Subject: Re: More on L-2 acquisition of gender >To: Annette Karmiloff-Smith >MIME-version: 1.0 > >An former student of mine (who recently completed a PhD with Lydia White at >McGill) did an M.A. thesis whose title may partially answer Linda Cote's >question. Native speaker of French DID experience difficulty (that is, >they made numerous errors) in Spanish gender. These were high school >students. > >Joyce Garavito-Bruhn El Muchacha Tiene Tres Balon: Number and > Gender in the Spanish of a Group of > Francophone Learners > >With Joyce's permission, I can provide a copy of the thesis (which is quite >old) if you like. > > > >Roy Lyster also reminded me of the following references: > >Surridge, M. (1993). Gender assignment in French: the hierarchy of rules >and the chronology of acquisition. IRAL, 32, 77-95. > >Surridge, M., & Lessard, A. (1984). Pour une prise de conscience du genre >grammatical. Canadian Modern Language Review, 41 (1), 43-52. > >Concerning children > >Harley, B. (1998) The role of form-focused tasks in promoting child L2 >acquisition. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom >second language acquisition (p. 156-174). Cambridge: Cambridge University >Press. > >and Florence Stevens' book which drew on your work. > >There is certainly plenty of anecdotal evidence available in Quebec where >so many anglophones have learned French at various ages. It remains a >problem for French immersion children after years and years of exposure. > >Best wishes, > >Py > >Patsy M. Lightbown > > > > > > >>>From: "Cote, Linda (NICHD)" >>>To: "'Annette Karmiloff-Smith'" >>>Subject: clarification; RE: L-2 acquisition of gender >>>Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 10:20:05 -0400 >>>MIME-Version: 1.0 >>> >>>Dear Dr. Karmiloff-Smith: >>> >>>I do not know of any references in response to your question: >>> >> >It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious >> >> difficulties with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an >> anecdote or are there data in the literature to which I can refer? >>> >>>However, I presume that your question is appropriate only for L-2 learners >>>whose native language did not include gender agreement? (e.g., >>>English-French). >>>Certainly a native speaker of French learning Spanish would NOT be >>>expected to >>>have this problem? You may need to delve into more Education-based research >>>directed toward classroom language teachers to find supporting literature. >>> >>>Best wishes, >>> >>>Linda >>>Linda R. Cote, Ph.D. >>>Child & Family Research >>>National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, NIH >>>Suite 8030 >>>6705 Rockledge Drive >>>Bethesda, MD 20892-7971 >>>e-mail: LC140v at nih.gov >>>phone: 301-496-5798 >>>fax: 301-496-2766 >>> > _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From macw at cmu.edu Thu Jul 29 23:21:36 1999 From: macw at cmu.edu (Brian MacWhinney) Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 19:21:36 -0400 Subject: IASCL Conference in 2002 Message-ID: ***************************************************** Request for Proposals to Host the 2002 IASCL Meeting ***************************************************** The next meeting of the International Association for the Study of Child Language (IASCL) will be held in July 2002. We would like to encourage people who are interested in hosting the conference to contact either Brian MacWhinney (IASCL President, macw at cmu.edu) or Steven Gillis (IASCL Secretary, gillis at uia.ua.ac.be) for informal discussions in the next weeks. Formal conference proposals should reach either of use by the first of January 1997. These proposals should include the following information: 1. Location. 2. Proposed date (or the available alternatives from which the IASCL Executive Committee can choose). 3. The composition of the local organizing committee (adding a brief CV of the chief organizers); the composition of the conference committee; and the composition of the program committee. 4. A particular topic or theme of the conference: in addition to a general program, the conference may focus on a particular topic of general interest. 5. Available facilities: - space for plenary sessions (ca. 600 people), parallel sessions (number and size of rooms available), poster sessions. - available equipment: overhead projectors, slide projectors, audio equipment, computer projection, and video projection. 6. The available institutional support, including a reasonable estimate of the amount of financial assistance that could be expected for organizational purposes, travel and accomodation, supporting participants from countries with severe currency restrictions. 7. Proposed registration fee (the fee includes the membership fee of the IASCL). 8. Accomodation information: prices of hotels and the availability of inexpensive student accomodations. If the conference center and the hotels are not exactly in one another's vicinity, please discuss the availability of public transportation and availability. 9. A proposed schedule for mailing circulars, the call for papers, the deadline for abstracts, meetings of the program committee, communication of the provisional program, and advertising the conference on electronic bulleting boards or in periodicals. 10. Other aspects of the proposed conference site or activities that might be relevant. 11. Copies of the proposal to circulate to all 15 members of the IASCL executive committee. From SMILES at hesp.umd.edu Fri Jul 30 18:02:48 1999 From: SMILES at hesp.umd.edu (Stephanie Miles) Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 14:02:48 -0400 Subject: Mean Pre-Verb Length Message-ID: I'm completing a master's thesis at the University of Maryland (under Nan Ratner) for which I'm studying children, ages 2:6 and up, and their mothers. Among other analyses, I'm looking at syntactic complexity. I'm including Mean Pre-Verb Length (mean # of morphemes before the main verb in each clause) as one measure, but have been unable to find many conventions for the calculation of this measure. A few studies, such as Snow (1972) and Fey, Leonard, & Wilcox (1981) offer some basic guidelines (e.g., exclude imperatives and accessories, include prepositions when they precede the main verb in a secondary clause), but I have come up with several additional questions during my analyses for which I haven't found answers. I've posed some of these below-- any help that anyone can offer would be very much appreciated! (1) how are morphemes in inverted structures (questions) counted-- e.g., "Is the baby hungry?" Do I count 0 or 2 (for "the baby") morphemes? (2) how does one deal with verb omissions, such as, "she all better" (where the verb "is" is assumed) or "I holding" (does that count as 1?) AND subject omissions, such as: "remember" for "do you remember" and "want to get down" for "do you want to get down?" (3) how about utterances that start with "and"? (i'm assuming that "and" is just a connector and that I would start the count at the subject that follows it) (4)Are "yes" and "no" counted as accessories in a sentence such as ("Yes, I'm going")? It seems that yes and no are redundant in this case, so I'm not certain. (5) How are utterances such as "you do" (in response to the question, "do I look pretty") or "it does" (in response to "does it go in here?") treated? Can you treat those as clauses and count accordingly because the main verb is understood? That's it for now. Thanks in advance for giving this some thought! Stephanie Miles From geertje.leemans at hum.uva.nl Wed Jul 21 10:56:59 1999 From: geertje.leemans at hum.uva.nl (Geertje Leemans) Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 12:56:59 +0200 Subject: no mail Message-ID: No mail Cancel subscription Geertje Leemans Carel Fabritiuslaan 44 NL-1181 TE Amstelveen The Netherlands tel: +31 20 6476367 Email: geertje.leemans at hum.uva.nl (let op! per 1 juli is dit adres niet meer bereikbaar) From Blazenka.Brozovic at public.srce.hr Mon Jul 5 01:34:18 1999 From: Blazenka.Brozovic at public.srce.hr (blazenka@public.srce.hr) Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1999 01:34:18 -0000 Subject: Symposium announcement Message-ID: 2nd ANNOUNCEMENT INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM EARLY COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT - ECLD 99. Interdisciplinary approach New perspectives and their application Dubrovnik, October 1- 4, 1999 e-mail: langconf at antun.erf.hr website: http://www.erf.hr/langconf HELD UNDER THE AUSPICES OF Croatian Ministry of Science and Technology IN COLABORATION WITH Academy for Developmental Rehabilitation Croatian Association for Child Neurology Croatian Logopedics Association Croatian Psychological Association Croatian Society for Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology ORGANIZING COMMITTEE* Mladen Hedever Milos Judas Melita Kovacevic (Co-Chair) Goranka Lugomer-Armano Marta Ljubesic (Chair) Vlatka Mejaski-Bosnjak Milena Zic-Fuchs *All the members are from the University of Zagreb SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM COMMITTEE Mladen Hedjever (Croatia) Bernhard Hurch (Austria) Asim Kurjak (Croatia) Melita Kovacevic (Croatia) Marta Ljubesic (Croatia) Hermann Sch?ler (Germany) SYMPOSIUM LANGUAGE English and Croatian (posters can be presented in Croatian as well, but an extensive summary in English is required) THEMATIC AREAS Neurobiological Development Preverbal Communication Language Development Language Development in Exceptional Children Neuroimaging and Language Bilingualism SYMPOSIUM VENUE The Symposium will be held at the International Center of Croatian Universities in Dubrovnik-ICCU, Don Frana Bulica 4, 20 000 Dubrovnik, Croatia WELCOME ADDRESS It is our great pleasure to invite you to participate in the Early Communication and Language Development-ELCD 99 - an international and interdisciplinary symposium that will be held at the International Center of Croatian Universities in Dubrovnik. Early human communication and language acquisition represent foundations of learning and mental development. Those of us who deal with these issues as researches, clinicians or educators and who have a background in humanities and biomedical and behavioral sciences are responsible for the efficient introduction of new knowledge and technologies into clinical and educational environments. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance to maintain and enhance communication between professionals and scientists. Years of research and clinical experience in the area of early development have confirmed our belief that interdisciplinary communication enables remarkable progress. Therefore we invite you to join us in Dubrovnik. As you probably know, Dubrovnik is an enchanting medieval town and it is under UNESCO's protection as a monument of culture. We believe that the Mediterranean ambience and the charm of the old town and its walls will make your stay in Dubrovnik inspiring and unforgettable. We look forward to hosting you in Dubrovnik Organizing Committee PRELIMINARY SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM PLENARY TALKS Anne Baker (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) James Booth (Northwestern University, USA): "The development of neuro-cognitive networks for component processes of oral language and reading" Werner Deutsch and Markus Wenglorz (TU Braunschweig, Germany): "How can communicative abilities grow when development is severely disturbed?" Wolfgang U. Dressler (University of Vienna, Austria): "The emergence of morphology: A constructivist approach" Lynne Sanford Koester (The University of Montana, USA): "Nonverbal communication between deaf and hearing infants and their parents: A decade of research" Ivica Kostovic and Milos Judas (University of Zagreb, Croatia): "Structural basis of the developmental plasticity in the human cerebral cortex" Sanja Kupesic and Asim Kurjak (University of Zagreb, Croatia): "Ultrasonic assessment of brain development" Asim Kurjak (University of Zagreb, Croatia): "3D sonography in the early detection of morphological and genetic disorders" Hanus Papousek (Germany): "The way to verbal symbolisation" Mechthild Papousek (University of Munich, Germany): "Significance and failures of preverbal communication" Roger Thompson (Franklin and Marshall College, USA): "Paleological monkeys and analogical apes, but what about us? Comparative perspectives on symbolic mediation of emergent abstract relations" FORMAT PLENARY (45 min + 15 min) POSTERS (posters posted for 1.5 hrs; presenters are expected to attend their poster session; posters' timetable will be available on website as of September 15) Poster workshops: thematic poster session and discussion (posters posted for 1.5 hrs; each presentation should not be longer than 10 minutes). Some suggestions for the poster presentation: - poster size - 1m X 1.5m (width X height) - posters should be placed on the board during the 30 minutes immediately preceding the start of your session and removed when the session ends. - if the poster is in Croatian an extended summary in English is required - please make sure to bring push pins for posting the poster - please bring an appropriate number of handouts so that you can share them with other participants. We encourage you to prepare all the materials prior to the Symposium because of limited reproduction facilities at the venue. DISCUSSION SESSION (60 min) It will be possible to have an informal exchange of ideas related to a particular topic. If participants express interest in that form of work this will be arranged on site. PANEL (optional): (60 min) Will be arranged on site depending on time available BOOK OF ABSTRACTS Abstracts will be published together with the final Program and distributed at the Symposium. The final program including all news and changes will be available to participants on the Symposium's website as of September 15. PROCEEDINGS We plan a special issue of the Croatian Review of Rehabilitation Research where a selection of Symposium papers will be published. CANCELLATION POLICY Cancellation should be made in writing to the secretariat of the ECLD 99. All refunds (50% of fee) will be made after the Symposium. HOTEL ACCOMODATION We kindly ask the participants to make their own hotel reservations choosing from the list of hotels. The hotels listed below are offering a special discount for Symposium participants. When making a reservation make sure to let the hotel know you are on Early Communication and Language Development symposium participant. Hotel...................Single...........Double Argentina............60/54*...........47/43 Park.......................36.................26 Bellevue................30.................25 Lero.......................27................17 *US dollars, (prices vary depending on the view - sea or other) All prices include breakfast. It is possible to have supper at a low rate. Accommodation in private rooms and apartments is also available. For further information contact Atlas Travel Agency Phone: ++ 385 20 44 22 22 Fax: ++ 385 20 411 100 HOTEL INFO ARGENTINA near the sea, a 20- minute walk from the venue Fax/phone: ++ 385 20 426 525 Phone: ++385 20 432 524 Address: F. Supila 14 PARK 20 min by bus to the venue, bus stops outside the hotel and the venue Fax/phone: ++ 385 20 412 646 Address: Setaliste kralja Zvonimira 39 BELLEVUE near the sea, all rooms have a sea view, a 5- minute walk to the venue Phone: ++ 385 20 413 306 Fax: ++ 385 20 414 058 Address: P. Cingrije 7 LERO 8- minute walk to the venue Phone: ++ 385 20 411 455 Fax: ++ 385 20 432 501 Address: Ive Vojnovica 14 More information on all hotels available on: http://www.dubrovnikhotels.hr http://www.laus.hr/hotdub/search/html/alpha.html For information on Dubrovnik see: http://www.hr/dubrovnik TRAVEL Dubrovnik has an easy access by road, sea and air. It has ferry connections with Bari, Italy and there are direct flights from Rome, Paris and Ljubljana. Via Zagreb or via Split it is linked to major European cities. Cilipi airport is about 20 km from the city. On September 30 bus transfer to the venue will be provided for ECLD '99 participants. Croatia Airlines is the Symposium sponsor and the Official Carrier for the ECLD 99. Croatia Airlines will grant all ECLD participants a 25% discount on flights to Zagreb or/and Dubrovnik (excl. Paris; this discount is applicable on Croatia Airlines flights only). Applicable in the period September 23 - October 10, 1999. If you would like to take advantage of this special offer, please contact your nearest Croatia Airlines office or visit Croatia Airlines website: http://www.ctn.tel.hr/ctn/index-en.html SOCIAL PROGRAM Cocktails and welcome reception, a concert, a guided excursion with dinner, an Old Town tour and an art exhibition will be organized for all participants. Half-day and whole day excursions are also available at extra cost. For all additional information regarding pre- and post symposium tours you may contact directly Atlas Travel Agency at Phone: ++ 385 20 44 22 22 Fax: ++ 385 20 411 100 GENERAL INFORMATION Continuing Education Credit It will be possible to obtain continuing education credits from the Croatian Medical Chamber. Those interested should contact the Organizers during the Symposium. Certificate of Attendance Upon request it will be possible to obtain a Certificate of Attendance. Please contact the Symposium assistants at the registration desk. Visa and Passport With a few exceptions, most visitors need a valid passport for entry to Croatia. Very few nationalities must have a visa. Please check with your travel agent or the nearest Croatian Embassy for details. Invitation letter Upon request the Organizing Committee will send you an official invitation letter. We assume that it might help some participants to make arrangements for their participation in the Symposium, but it is in no way binding for the Symposium Organizer. Weather and clothing In early October the weather in Dubrovnik is still warm and sunny. Average sea temperature is 21 C, and average air temperature is 24 C, but it can get colder and rainy. Therefore light clothes and walking shoes are recommended, but make sure to bring some warmer clothes, too. Currency and Exchange Croatian kuna (HRK) is the official currency. Foreign money may be exchanged at banks, exchange offices, post offices, hotels, airports and travel agencies. All major credit cards are widely accepted. REGISTRATION FORM Last Name First Name Institution Address Post code Country e-mail Fax: Phone: Accompanying person Last Name First Name REGISTRATION FEE ..............................before August 31..........after August 31 or on site Participants...............200 USD............................250 USD Students....................100 USD.............................125 USD Daily registratio....... 60 USD................................70 USD Accompanying person will be charged for meals only Registration fee includes Symposium facilities and materials - programs and abstracts, the opening reception, a guided excursion with dinner, coffee, refreshments and lunches during the Symposium. PAYMENTS MAY BE MADE BY CREDIT CARD: American Express Diners Eurocard/MasterCard Total fee (USD): Card number: Expiry date: Cardholder?s name: Signature: Date: ON GIRO ACCOUNT: Payments in HRK possible in Croatia only and should be made to 30109-603-39609 (for ERF, Zagreb, Kuslanova 59a); Payments in US dollars should be made to Privredna Banka Zagreb: 30101-621-42 7020-280-9182800-132344-471 Vegetarian Menu: Yes No IMPORTANT DEADLINES June 30, 1999 Submission of Abstracts July 31, 1999 Acceptance of abstracts will be confirmed by e-mail (or by regular mail for those who have not provided their e-mail address)) August 31, 1999 Advance registration September 15, 1999 Program available on website CORRESPODENCE ADDRESS: ECLD 99 Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation Kuslanova 59a 10 000 Zagreb Croatia Fax: ++ 385 1 229950 Phone: ++ 385 1 2338022 e-mail: langconf at antun.erf.hr website: http://www.erf.hr/langconf From ann.dowker at psy.ox.ac.uk Fri Jul 9 19:28:34 1999 From: ann.dowker at psy.ox.ac.uk (Ann Dowker) Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 20:28:34 +0100 Subject: word frequency databases Message-ID: Does anyone know of any databases of spoken English word frequencies,other than the MRC psycholinguistic database? Many thanks, Ann From jvwoude at calvin.edu Mon Jul 12 13:26:32 1999 From: jvwoude at calvin.edu (Judith Vander Woude) Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 09:26:32 -0400 Subject: Email address Message-ID: Does anyone know Kay Mogford-Bevan's email address? If you could send your reply off the list, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Judy ***************************************************************************** Judith Vander Woude, Ph.D. Calvin College 3201 Burton SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546 Phone: 616-957-6289 From edwards.212 at osu.edu Tue Jul 13 20:58:23 1999 From: edwards.212 at osu.edu (Jan Edwards) Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 15:58:23 -0500 Subject: child-directed speech Message-ID: Here is a question from a colleague (Keith Johnson): What is a good paradigm for eliciting both child-directed and adult-directed speech? He and a student of his have been looking at adult discourse and they have found that speaking rate is cyclic such that faster speech is produced within discourse units, and slower intervals occur around discourse boundaries. They are interested in comparing rhythmic patterning in adult-directed and child-directed speech and want to know how to elicit comparable speech samples in these two conditions. You can reply directly to him at: kjohnson at ling.ohio-state.edu Thanks! Jan Edwards From brosda at icp.inpg.fr Sun Jul 18 15:10:01 1999 From: brosda at icp.inpg.fr (Stefanie Brosda) Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 17:10:01 +0200 Subject: - transcription classes for infant vocalisations - Message-ID: hello everybody - does anybody know of the existence of courses on phonetic transcription of child speech, especially infant babbling ? any hint is greatly appreciated be it courses in europe or other continents or maybe the moon ... sincerely, stefanie /\/\ /\ /\ / /--\/ \ /\ /__\/ / /\/ /\ \/--\ / \/ / \/--\ \ \ Stefanie BROSDA Institut de la Communication Parlee (ICP) - INPG UPRESA CNRS No 5009 46 Av. Felix-Viallet 38031 Grenoble Cedex 1 FRANCE Tel: (+33) 4 76 57 48 27 Fax: (+33) 4 76 57 47 10 E-mail: brosda at icp.inpg.fr From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Mon Jul 19 18:45:08 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 18:45:08 +0000 Subject: L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious difficulties with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an anecdote or are there data in the literature to which I can refer? Many thanks in anticipation, Annette K-S _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From ymb at uclink4.berkeley.edu Mon Jul 19 18:50:16 1999 From: ymb at uclink4.berkeley.edu (Yael Biederman) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 11:50:16 -0700 Subject: Language development in deaf children Message-ID: Dear Info-CHILDES, If anyone knows the names of researchers studying language (or literacy) development in deaf children in either New Zealand or Costa Rica, could you please pass them on to me? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance! Yael Biederman University of California, Berkeley Yael Biederman Graduate School of Education University of California, Berkeley ymb at uclink4.berkeley.edu From degraff at MIT.EDU Mon Jul 19 22:38:18 1999 From: degraff at MIT.EDU (Michel DeGraff) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 18:38:18 EDT Subject: Morphlogy in L2A Message-ID: RE message from a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk on Mon, 19 Jul 1999: > It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious difficulties > with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an anecdote or are there > data in the literature to which I can refer? Many thanks in anticipation, > Annette K-S Dear all, I have a related request. I'd be very much interested in recent and not-so-recent references on inflectional and derivational morphology in (untutored) in L2A (and/vs. L1A). I am particularly interested in the acquisition paths of derivational morphemes. E.g., do children and adults follow similar paths in acquiring the morphophonology and semantics of derivational affixes in the `target' language. Thanks in advance, -michel. ___________________________________________________________________________ MIT Linguistics & Philosophy, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge MA 02139-4307 From pdale at u.washington.edu Mon Jul 19 23:53:44 1999 From: pdale at u.washington.edu (P. Dale) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:53:44 -0700 Subject: assessment measures for Greek Message-ID: I've been asked by a friend if there are any standardized assessment measures suitable for 3-4 year old children acquiring Greek as L1. Suggestions would be welcome. Feel free to respond to this message, or directly to my email below. Thanks. ******************************************************************** * Philip S. Dale, Professor * * Psychology Dept., Box 351525 tel: 206-543-4329 * * University of Washington fax: 206-685-3157 * * Seattle, WA 98195 email: pdale at u.washington.edu * ******************************************************************** From m.a.forrester at ukc.ac.uk Tue Jul 20 14:29:01 1999 From: m.a.forrester at ukc.ac.uk (Mike Forrester) Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 15:29:01 +0100 Subject: Lectureships at Kent (UK) Message-ID: LECTURESHIP(S) IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNTIVE PSYCHOLOGY Application are invited for two posts: Lecturer in Developmental Psychology and Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology. For the Cognitive post, research interests in any area of cognitive psychology will be welcome; for the Developmental post, applicants should have an interest in social, cognitive, or language development. Applicants will be expected to seek BPS (British Psychological Society) chartered status, if they have not already obtained it. For both posts, the starting date is 1st October 1999 or as soon thereafter as possible. Our intention is that interviews will be held in the week beginning 23rd August. Salary will be according to experience, on either the Lecturer A scale : (?16,655-?21,815) or Lecturer B scale: ?22,726-?29,048) Reference A99/100 for the Developmental post Reference A99/99 for the Cognitive post Informal enquiries to Professor Derek Rutter (+44 01227) 827573, email: D.R..Rutter at ukc.ac.uk or (for the Developmental Post) Dr. Michael Forrester (+44 01227 823489, email: M.A.Forrester at ukc.ac.uk Please telephone the Personnel Office for further Particulars on 01227 827837 (24 hours) or 823674 (Minicom), quoting the appropriate reference number Closing date for applications: Friday, 13th August 1999. From crutchley at fs1.ed.man.ac.uk Mon Jul 26 16:09:59 1999 From: crutchley at fs1.ed.man.ac.uk (Alison Crutchley) Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:09:59 GMT Subject: ICPLA website Message-ID: Can anyone help me with an up-to-date URL for the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association website? I am having no luck with the one below, but it is quite old. http://tpowel.comdis.lsumc.edu/icpla/icpla.htm Many thanks, Alison Crutchley ................................................................... Dr Alison Crutchley Centre for Human Communication and Deafness, [formerly CAEDSP] School of Education, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. Tel: +44 (0)161 275 3390 (direct) / 3389 (office) Fax: +44 (0)161 275 3373 alison.crutchley at man.ac.uk Visit the Centre website: http://www.man.ac.uk/CHCD ................................................................... From heather at wfc.com.tw Tue Jul 27 01:58:20 1999 From: heather at wfc.com.tw (heather at wfc.com.tw) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 09:58:20 +0800 Subject: ICPLA website Message-ID: I'll post this to the list in case any one else is interested: Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics Official Journal of the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association http://www.tandfdc.com/jnls/clp.htm -Heather "Alison Crutchley" on 07/27/99 12:09:59 AM To: info-childes at childes.psy.cmu.edu cc: (bcc: HEATHER/ALE) Subject: ICPLA website Can anyone help me with an up-to-date URL for the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association website? I am having no luck with the one below, but it is quite old. http://tpowel.comdis.lsumc.edu/icpla/icpla.htm Many thanks, Alison Crutchley ................................................................... Dr Alison Crutchley Centre for Human Communication and Deafness, [formerly CAEDSP] School of Education, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. Tel: +44 (0)161 275 3390 (direct) / 3389 (office) Fax: +44 (0)161 275 3373 alison.crutchley at man.ac.uk Visit the Centre website: http://www.man.ac.uk/CHCD ................................................................... From jr111 at cus.cam.ac.uk Tue Jul 27 13:47:02 1999 From: jr111 at cus.cam.ac.uk (James Russell) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 14:47:02 +0100 Subject: talking chimps Message-ID: The new Savage-Rumbaugh work on chimps speaking via speech synthesisers is (literally) front page news in the UK. Can somebody tell me where it is published? James Russell From mdonahue at uic.edu Tue Jul 27 11:30:56 1999 From: mdonahue at uic.edu (Mavis Donahue) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 11:30:56 +0000 Subject: Faculty Position as Director of Early Intervention Program Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lsc at th.com.br Tue Jul 27 18:38:07 1999 From: lsc at th.com.br (Leonor Sciliar Cabral) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 15:38:07 -0300 Subject: Faculty Position as Director of Early Intervention Program Message-ID: Mavis Donahue wrote: > Please help us to identify candidates for our faculty position as > Director of our Early Childhood Research and Intervention Program. > Nominations are welcome. > > Thanks for your help! > > ************************************************************************************** > > The College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago > invites applications for a tenured faculty position as Director of our > Early Childhood Research and Intervention Program. Re-affirming our > commitment to early intervention and school improvement in urban and > culturally diverse communities, we seek an individual with the > ability, commitment and enthusiasm to provide leadership to our Early > Childhood Research and Intervention Program. Its mission includes: > providing opportunities for faculty and students to conduct research > on recommended practices for early intervention for young children and > their families; offering a model demonstration site for preparing > professionals in family-focused early intervention; and supervising > quality services to families and their infants and toddlers, > particularly those with or at risk for disabilities. Offering both > center-based and home-based programs, the core of the Early Childhood > Research and Intervention Program is partially supported by recurring > state funds. For the Director position, a record of scholarly > activities consistent with a research university, and successful grant > writing in early intervention is required. > > Please send letter of application, curriculum vitae, a statement of > research interests, evidence of good teaching, examples of scholarly > productivity, and three letters of reference. These materials should > be sent to: > > Victoria Chou, Dean > College of Education, m/c 147 > University of Illinois at Chicago > 1040 W. Harrison Street > Chicago, IL 60607 > > Review of applications will begin on August 23, 1999 and will continue > until the application is filled. The University of Illinois is an > Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity > Employer.***********************************************Mavis > DonahueProfessor and Chair, Special EducationCollege of Education, m/c > 1471040 W. Harrison StreetUniversity of IllinoisChicago, IL > 60607312-996-8139 (Voice)312-996-5651 (Fax) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From E.Baines at ioe.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 17:50:25 1999 From: E.Baines at ioe.ac.uk (Ed Baines) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 13:50:25 -0400 Subject: transcribing video Message-ID: Dear all, I am in the process of setting up a project examining children's conversations and social interaction on school playgrounds. We hope to use a camcorder (not digital) and radio microphones to enable recording of the dialogue as well as the identity of the speakers and context etc. My concern is with the transcription end of the project. Whereas for audio recordings a transcriber has the benefit of a foot pedal to briefly rewind the tape to enable easy transcription, there does not seem to be anything similar that could be used with video. Does anyone know of a device like a footpedal that could be used in conjunction with video or suggest any simple (cheap) solutions? Many thanks, Ed ps apologies for the cross posting. ---------------------- Ed Baines E.Baines at ioe.ac.uk Psychology and Special Needs Institute of Education 25 Woburn Square London WC1H OAA Phone: 0171 - 612-6294 Fax: 0171 - 612-6304 From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 14:21:02 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 14:21:02 +0000 Subject: L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: I recently put out an email on the net asking about grammatical gender in L2 adult learners. >> It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious difficulties >> with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an anecdote or are there >> data in the literature to which I can refer? Many thanks in anticipation, Most of the replies are actually personal anecdotes similar to my own experience, so this does seem to be a neglected research area. My question is: does grammatical gender stand out as a continuing problem in otherwise fluent L2 speakers? Are there other cross-linguistic areas of language which fluent speakers continue to find difficult (e.g. say, useage of definite/indefinite articles) and children learn effortlessly? I think there are some important theoretical questions lurking here. Here are all the responses I got: >Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 21:44:11 +0200 >From: Joseph Hilferty >X-Accept-Language: en >MIME-Version: 1.0 >To: Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith >Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender >X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by lingua.fil.ub.es id > JAA26497 > >Hi, > >You might want to get into contact with my colleague, Carme Mu?oz, >since I think she might know some of the references on L2 acquisition >of grammatical and natural gender. I'm sure Carme wouldn't mind your >asking her for the references. Her e-mail is: >munoz at lingua.fil.ub.es >Anyway, I might add that as a nonnative speaker of Spanish and Catalan, >I find grammatical gender to be difficult at times. The main thing is >to try to remember word endings. Words that have no gender marking are >a real pain, because there's no morphophonology to hang onto. >Joe > From: Elezar at aol.com Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 14:20:36 EDT Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender To: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk MIME-Version: 1.0 I don't have any references to give, but the info about gender agreement is not that anegdote. I am a bilingual Russian/English speaker and can tell you what I had most difficulties with in written and spoken modalities. Subject-verb agreement is the worst. But then, in English there is not much of gender agreement going around. Which is not the case with Russian. All the people I no, who took Russian as a second language, have a tremendous amount of difficulties with gender agreement, because in Russian gender plays an important role for suffixation and endings for cases. If you have more questions about Russian - do not hesitate to ask. Elena Zaretsky, MS, CCC-SLP, ABD at BU Department of Psychology, Human Development, Jean Berko Gleason adviser. Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 11:28:39 -0700 To: Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith From: Fred Dick Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender The best person to ask on this is Vera Kempe (as Brian MacW has probably just told you) - I think he has her new email address. Cheers, Fred Dick ********************************* Frederic Dick Center for Research in Language Deparment of Cognitive Science 9500 Gilman Drive, Mail Code 0526 La Jolla, CA, 92093-0526 Phone: 858-534-3926 Fax: 858-534-6788 X-Sender: ys54 at postoffice.mail.cornell.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 13:48:55 -0400 To: Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith From: Yasuhiro Shirai Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender Status: RO You might have already heard about this but, Andersen, R. W. (1984?). What's gender good for, anyway? In R. W. Ansersen (Ed.) Second Languages: A cross-linguistics perspective. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. would be a good starter. ********************************** X-Sender: jisa at mailhost.univ-lyon2.fr Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 15:52:11 +0100 To: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk From: Harriet Jisa Hello, We met at dinner in St Sebastian. I was sitting on the other side of Liliana. I saw your question over Childes about gender in L2. I've lived in France for almost 20 years, teach in French, work in French etc. My French is completely fluent - somewhat of an American accent, but... I write, read, do everything in French. But if I have a b?te noire in my life it is gender ! Early on I found a technique which helps when I'm writing and have time to worry about gender - I use the possessive determiner and see if it "sounds right". That usually works, except for words that start with a vowel. Then I scream out to my children or colleagues for help. I also use adjectives like vert/verte I don't know why, but I have much more of a feeling/intuition with singular possessive determiners or adjectives than with a definite or indefinite articles. I think that Patsy Lightbrown wrote an article a while back (maybe in the early 80s) about gender in L2 French. Hope to see you again sometime Harriet _________________________________________ Harriet JISA, Professeur Dynamique du Langage Maison Rhone-Alpes de Sciences de l'Homme 14, avenue Berthelot 69363 Lyon Cedex - FRANCE Phone: +33 O4 72 72 64 12 - +33 04 72 72 64 26 (bureau/office) Fax: +33 04 72 72 65 90 E-Mail: Harriet.Jisa at univ-lyon2.fr _________________________________________ _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 16:03:12 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 16:03:12 +0000 Subject: More on L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: >From: "Cote, Linda (NICHD)" >To: "'Annette Karmiloff-Smith'" >Subject: clarification; RE: L-2 acquisition of gender >Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 10:20:05 -0400 >MIME-Version: 1.0 > >Dear Dr. Karmiloff-Smith: > >I do not know of any references in response to your question: > >It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious difficulties with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an anecdote or are there data in the literature to which I can refer? > >However, I presume that your question is appropriate only for L-2 learners >whose native language did not include gender agreement? (e.g., >English-French). >Certainly a native speaker of French learning Spanish would NOT be expected to >have this problem? You may need to delve into more Education-based research >directed toward classroom language teachers to find supporting literature. > >Best wishes, > >Linda >Linda R. Cote, Ph.D. >Child & Family Research >National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, NIH >Suite 8030 >6705 Rockledge Drive >Bethesda, MD 20892-7971 >e-mail: LC140v at nih.gov >phone: 301-496-5798 >fax: 301-496-2766 > From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 17:05:24 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 17:05:24 +0000 Subject: More on L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: >Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:46:20 -0700 (PDT) >From: "Dan I. SLOBIN" >To: Annette Karmiloff-Smith >Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender >MIME-Version: 1.0 I've thought about gender and other L2 problems on and off, >though have no references for you. But more anecdotes, for what they're >worth: > I learned German quickly and effortlessly as a 14-year-old >gymnasium student in Vienna, during my father's Fulbright year there. >I've read and spoken German a lot in the almost 40 years since then--and >gender is still problematic. What amazes me is that it is problematic >even for some high-frequency, very common words. Apparently it is >possible for a adolescent/adult L2 learner/user to encounter words >thousands and thousands of time, process them quickly and easily in >comprehension, and never keep track of gender. For some words I >oscillate between two genders, but for others even find all three genders >possible. In this regard, it might be interesting that various Yiddish >dialects have reduced the three German genders to two, as have Dutch and >Scandinavian (and there's certainly research on that). > My general opinion is that L2 mastery is hampered by distinctions >that aren't routinely made in L1. This is certainly true of English >articles for L1 speakers of Russian and Turkish, in my experience. I have >colleagues who are exquisitely fluent English-speakers, but who still >haven't solved the mysteries of a/the. Interestingly, this is evident >only in their writing. When I listen to them, I hardly ever notice the >problems with articles. This must have something to do with the problems >that they have in acquisition, since comprehension almost always proceeds >easily without attention to "a" vs. "the" (similarly for comprehending >German). > Another obvious candidate is tense/aspect. Wolfgang Klein, for >example, has written what I consider to be the definite analysis of the >present perfect in English--yet he makes the usual German-speaker's >errors in use of that form in his spoken English. Nini, too, hasn't >figured out the present perfect in her generally fluent English. Again, >this is a form that can most often be ignored in comprehension. (And I >have similar problems with tense/aspect systems in Russian and Spanish.) > But I think that word-order variation for the pragmatics of >topic/focus, given/new, etc., seems to be readily accessible to >L2-learners. I think I have a good feel for how to manipulate word order >in Turkish, Russian, and Spanish--and the patterns are different in those >three languages. But this is not something that one would notice in L2 >English, of course, given our limited use of word-order variation. > I've discussed these issues as "first-language thinking in >second-language speaking" in my paper in the Gumperz & Levinson volume, >_Rethinking linguistic relativity_ (CUP 1996). > >Let me _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 17:54:19 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 17:54:19 +0000 Subject: last on L-2 and gender till september Message-ID: The following article has a discussion and quantified data on an L-2 adult fluent speaker, regarding gender errors: Volterra, V. & Bates, E. Selective impairment of Italian grammatical morphology in the congenitally deaf: A case study. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 1989, 6:3, 273-308. _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 18:33:35 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 18:33:35 +0000 Subject: L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: >Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 09:03:37 -0700 (PDT) >From: "Dan I. SLOBIN" >To: Annette Karmiloff-Smith >Subject: Re: L-2 acquisition of gender >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Excerpt from: Slobin, D. I. (1996). From "thought and language" to >"thinking for speaking." In J. J. Gumperz & S. Levinson (Eds.), >_Rethinking linguistic relativity_ (pp. 70-96). Cambridge: Cambridge >University Press. > > >FIRST-LANGUAGE THINKING IN SECOND-LANGUAGE SPEAKING > > There is something dissatisfying in limiting ourselves to evidence >that is so bound up with the acquisition and use of native languages. I >have also suggested that the stability of grammaticized categories in >historical language change can be taken as evidence of the cognitive >importance of those categories for speakers. In conclusion, I would like >to point to another type of evidence that seems to support my proposal >that the ways in which learning a language as a child constrains one's >sensitivity to what Sapir called "the possible contents of experience as >expressed in linguistic terms." > > Consider the small collection of linguistically encoded >perspectives that we have been examining: temporal contours of events >marked by aspectual forms, movement and trajectories in space (and also >indication of definiteness of participants mentioned in connected >discourse). These are precisely the sorts of things that make it so hard >to master the grammar of a second language. For example, it is very hard >for English-speakers to grasp the Spanish perfective/imperfective >distinction that is lacking in our native language. In fact, we seem >never to fully master this system in Spanish. By contrast, we have little >difficulty in figuring out how to use the Spanish progressive and perfect, >or the Spanish definite and indefinite articles--since we have already >learned how to make decisions about the linguistic expression of these >notions in English. But there is nothing inherently easy or hard about >*any* of these Spanish distinctions. For example, native French speakers >have no trouble with the Spanish imperfective, since they have a similar >category in French; but the progressive and perfect pose problems to them, >since these are not French ways of looking at events. Turkish speakers >have difficulty with definite and indefinite articles in learning to speak >Spanish, English, and German, since there are no definite articles in >Turkish. German speakers of English use the progressive where they should >use simple present, although Turks do not make this error in English, >since Turkish uses progressive aspect and German does not. Spanish >learners of English object that we make too many obscure distinctions with >our large collection of locative prepositions and particles. And so on. >In brief, each native language has trained its speakers to pay different >kinds of attention to events and experiences when talking about them. >This training is carried out in childhood and is exceptionally resistant >to restructuring in adult second-language acquisition. > > Much of value for the thinking for speaking hypothesis could be >learned from a systematic study of those systems in particular second >languages that speakers of particular first languages find especially >difficult to master. Suggestive data of precisely this sort come from a >European Science Foundation project, "Second Language Acquisition by Adult >Immigrants" (Perdue, in press). Two examples, one from the domain of time >and the other from the domain of space, are instructive. > > Consider Italian- and Punjabi-speaking immigrants to Britain >(Bhardwaj, Dietrich, & Noyau, 1988). Italian and English are both >"tense-prominent" languages--that is, every finite clause must be >grammatically marked as to its deictic relation to the moment of speaking. >And Italian immigrants readily acquire English past-tense forms. This >makes it possible for them to construct narratives from a >situationally-external perspective, relating a succession of past events >as seen from the present, as is done in Italian. These speakers make far >more frequent use of tense-marking than of the English progressive aspect. >Punjabi, by contrast, is an "aspect-prominent" language, and Punjabi >immigrants make heavy use of the English progressive to narrate events >"from within," from the perspective of the protagonist, in analogous >fashion with the narrative use of the Punjabi imperfective. > > In the domain of space the influence of Punjabi on learners' early >organization of English is striking (Becker, Carroll, & Kelly, 1988). In >Punjabi, spatial locations are regions named by nouns, analogous to >English expressions such as "on THE TOP of the pile" and "at THE BACK the >house". Punjabi learners of English often treat prepositions as nouns, >producing forms such as "put THE ON please", "put THE DOWN chair", and >"pull THE UP" (Becker et al., p. 69). English relational terms have >apparently been reanalyzed as names of locations. In addition, Punjabi >focuses on states as the results of processes (somewhat like the Spanish >use of participles discussed above). This pattern also transfers to >English. For example, a newspaper lying on a table is referred to as "put >in the table" by a Punjabi-speaker. The investigators suggest that "he >imagines that the newspaper was put there by someone. In Punjabi one says >exactly the same thing" (Becker et al., p. 73). > > The European Science Foundation team concludes (Bhardwaj et al., >1988, p. 86): > > "The influence of the lexico-grammatical systems of both the SL >[source language] and the TL [target language] can be observed in the >acquisition process. The picture which emerges is quite a simple one--an >adult acquirer tries to discover in the TL a system that is similar to >that of his SL, and if he does not discover any, he tries to construct >one; but since it is the TL material he has to use, the outcome is >invariably a hybrid which is an autonomous system (often consisting of >loosely or tightly integrated sub-systems) which partakes of some features >of both the `parent' systems but is identical to neither." > > I propose that the grammaticized categories that are most >susceptible to SL influence have something important in common: *they >cannot be experienced directly in our perceptual, sensorimotor, and >practical dealings with the world*. To be sure, all human beings >experience sequences of events that have particular temporal contours, put >objects in locations, and so on. Indeed, animals do the same. But only >language requires us to *categorize* events as ongoing or completed, >objects as at rest or as at the end point of a trajectory, and so forth. >Other categories seem to be less dependent on purely verbal >categorization. I would imagine, for example, that if your language lacked >a plural marker, you would not have insurmountable difficulty in learning >to mark the category of plurality in a second language, since this concept >is evident to the nonlinguistic mind and eye. Or if your language lacked >an instrumental marker it should not be difficult to learn to add a >grammatical inflection to nouns that name objects manipulated as >instruments. Plurality and manipulation are notions that are obvious to >the senses. [*] > >---------------------------------- >[*] You may have difficulty remembering to use these markers on every >occasion--as Chinese speakers of English do not always mark the plural, to >take one possible example. But this is a matter of automatizing attention, >which may be difficult in adulthood. What I am proposing is that some >grammaticized categories may be obvious on nonlinguistic grounds. For >such categories, the problem in second-language learning is not to make >the proper conceptual distinction, but to treat it as obligatory. >---------------------------------- > > But there is nothing in everyday sensorimotor interactions with >the world that changes when you describe an event as "She WENT to work" or >"She HAS GONE to work," or when you refer to the same object in successive >utterances as "A*car" and "THE car." Distinctions of aspect, >definiteness, voice, and the like, are par excellence, distinctions that >can only be learned through language, and have no other use except to be >expressed in language. They are not categories of thought in general, but >categories of thinking for speaking. It seems that once our minds have >been trained in taking particular points of view for the purposes of >speaking, it is exceptionally difficult to be retrained. > > It is interesting that Wilhelm von Humboldt anticipated these >questions as well. He wrote (1836/1988, p. 60): > >"To learn a foreign language should therefore be to acquire a new >standpoint in the world-view hitherto possessed, and in fact to a certain >extent this is so, since every language contains the whole conceptual >fabric and mode of presentation of a portion of mankind. But because we >always carry over, more or less, our own world-view, and even our own >language-view, this outcome is not purely and completely experienced." > >If we substitute von Humboldt's term, "world-view," with my proposed term, >"thinking for speaking," we have here a powerful statement about the role >of language in what Sapir called those "contents of experience [that are] >capable of expression in linguistic terms." > >CONCLUSION > > In sum, we can only talk and understand one another in terms of a >particular language. The language or languages that we learn in childhood >are not neutral coding systems of an objective reality. Rather, each one >is a subjective orientation to the world of human experience, and this >orientation *affects the ways in which we think while we are speaking*. > From a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 28 19:35:02 1999 From: a.karmiloff-smith at ich.ucl.ac.uk (Annette Karmiloff-Smith) Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 19:35:02 +0000 Subject: More on L-2 acquisition of gender Message-ID: >Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 14:00:23 -0500 >From: "Patsy M. Lightbown" >Subject: Re: More on L-2 acquisition of gender >To: Annette Karmiloff-Smith >MIME-version: 1.0 > >An former student of mine (who recently completed a PhD with Lydia White at >McGill) did an M.A. thesis whose title may partially answer Linda Cote's >question. Native speaker of French DID experience difficulty (that is, >they made numerous errors) in Spanish gender. These were high school >students. > >Joyce Garavito-Bruhn El Muchacha Tiene Tres Balon: Number and > Gender in the Spanish of a Group of > Francophone Learners > >With Joyce's permission, I can provide a copy of the thesis (which is quite >old) if you like. > > > >Roy Lyster also reminded me of the following references: > >Surridge, M. (1993). Gender assignment in French: the hierarchy of rules >and the chronology of acquisition. IRAL, 32, 77-95. > >Surridge, M., & Lessard, A. (1984). Pour une prise de conscience du genre >grammatical. Canadian Modern Language Review, 41 (1), 43-52. > >Concerning children > >Harley, B. (1998) The role of form-focused tasks in promoting child L2 >acquisition. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom >second language acquisition (p. 156-174). Cambridge: Cambridge University >Press. > >and Florence Stevens' book which drew on your work. > >There is certainly plenty of anecdotal evidence available in Quebec where >so many anglophones have learned French at various ages. It remains a >problem for French immersion children after years and years of exposure. > >Best wishes, > >Py > >Patsy M. Lightbown > > > > > > >>>From: "Cote, Linda (NICHD)" >>>To: "'Annette Karmiloff-Smith'" >>>Subject: clarification; RE: L-2 acquisition of gender >>>Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 10:20:05 -0400 >>>MIME-Version: 1.0 >>> >>>Dear Dr. Karmiloff-Smith: >>> >>>I do not know of any references in response to your question: >>> >> >It is frequently reported that L-2 adult learners have serious >> >> difficulties with grammatical gender agreement. Is this just an >> anecdote or are there data in the literature to which I can refer? >>> >>>However, I presume that your question is appropriate only for L-2 learners >>>whose native language did not include gender agreement? (e.g., >>>English-French). >>>Certainly a native speaker of French learning Spanish would NOT be >>>expected to >>>have this problem? You may need to delve into more Education-based research >>>directed toward classroom language teachers to find supporting literature. >>> >>>Best wishes, >>> >>>Linda >>>Linda R. Cote, Ph.D. >>>Child & Family Research >>>National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, NIH >>>Suite 8030 >>>6705 Rockledge Drive >>>Bethesda, MD 20892-7971 >>>e-mail: LC140v at nih.gov >>>phone: 301-496-5798 >>>fax: 301-496-2766 >>> > _______________________________________ Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, U.K. tel: 0207 905 2754 fax: 0207 242 7717 _______________________________________ From macw at cmu.edu Thu Jul 29 23:21:36 1999 From: macw at cmu.edu (Brian MacWhinney) Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 19:21:36 -0400 Subject: IASCL Conference in 2002 Message-ID: ***************************************************** Request for Proposals to Host the 2002 IASCL Meeting ***************************************************** The next meeting of the International Association for the Study of Child Language (IASCL) will be held in July 2002. We would like to encourage people who are interested in hosting the conference to contact either Brian MacWhinney (IASCL President, macw at cmu.edu) or Steven Gillis (IASCL Secretary, gillis at uia.ua.ac.be) for informal discussions in the next weeks. Formal conference proposals should reach either of use by the first of January 1997. These proposals should include the following information: 1. Location. 2. Proposed date (or the available alternatives from which the IASCL Executive Committee can choose). 3. The composition of the local organizing committee (adding a brief CV of the chief organizers); the composition of the conference committee; and the composition of the program committee. 4. A particular topic or theme of the conference: in addition to a general program, the conference may focus on a particular topic of general interest. 5. Available facilities: - space for plenary sessions (ca. 600 people), parallel sessions (number and size of rooms available), poster sessions. - available equipment: overhead projectors, slide projectors, audio equipment, computer projection, and video projection. 6. The available institutional support, including a reasonable estimate of the amount of financial assistance that could be expected for organizational purposes, travel and accomodation, supporting participants from countries with severe currency restrictions. 7. Proposed registration fee (the fee includes the membership fee of the IASCL). 8. Accomodation information: prices of hotels and the availability of inexpensive student accomodations. If the conference center and the hotels are not exactly in one another's vicinity, please discuss the availability of public transportation and availability. 9. A proposed schedule for mailing circulars, the call for papers, the deadline for abstracts, meetings of the program committee, communication of the provisional program, and advertising the conference on electronic bulleting boards or in periodicals. 10. Other aspects of the proposed conference site or activities that might be relevant. 11. Copies of the proposal to circulate to all 15 members of the IASCL executive committee. From SMILES at hesp.umd.edu Fri Jul 30 18:02:48 1999 From: SMILES at hesp.umd.edu (Stephanie Miles) Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 14:02:48 -0400 Subject: Mean Pre-Verb Length Message-ID: I'm completing a master's thesis at the University of Maryland (under Nan Ratner) for which I'm studying children, ages 2:6 and up, and their mothers. Among other analyses, I'm looking at syntactic complexity. I'm including Mean Pre-Verb Length (mean # of morphemes before the main verb in each clause) as one measure, but have been unable to find many conventions for the calculation of this measure. A few studies, such as Snow (1972) and Fey, Leonard, & Wilcox (1981) offer some basic guidelines (e.g., exclude imperatives and accessories, include prepositions when they precede the main verb in a secondary clause), but I have come up with several additional questions during my analyses for which I haven't found answers. I've posed some of these below-- any help that anyone can offer would be very much appreciated! (1) how are morphemes in inverted structures (questions) counted-- e.g., "Is the baby hungry?" Do I count 0 or 2 (for "the baby") morphemes? (2) how does one deal with verb omissions, such as, "she all better" (where the verb "is" is assumed) or "I holding" (does that count as 1?) AND subject omissions, such as: "remember" for "do you remember" and "want to get down" for "do you want to get down?" (3) how about utterances that start with "and"? (i'm assuming that "and" is just a connector and that I would start the count at the subject that follows it) (4)Are "yes" and "no" counted as accessories in a sentence such as ("Yes, I'm going")? It seems that yes and no are redundant in this case, so I'm not certain. (5) How are utterances such as "you do" (in response to the question, "do I look pretty") or "it does" (in response to "does it go in here?") treated? Can you treat those as clauses and count accordingly because the main verb is understood? That's it for now. Thanks in advance for giving this some thought! Stephanie Miles