LINGUIST List 10.322

Mon Mar 1 1999

Qs: UG/L2, Ambisyllabicity, Hist of English Text

Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Thomas Dinsmore, Universal Grammar and Second Language Acquisition
2. Alain Content, Ambisyllabicity across languages
3. Linda Stump Rashidi, History of English Pedagogy

Dear Linguistlist Subscribers,

I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio)
in the TESL program. For my dissertation, I am attempting to do a
quantitative research synthesis (meta-analysis) of empirical studies that
use Universal Grammar (principles and parameters) as a theoretical base.
That is, studies that test for the evidence of access to Universal Grammar
when learning a second language (such as Flynn 1987, Thomas 1989 and 1991,
and Hirakawa 1990).
I am writing to ask you for help in finding such studies. I have done
numerous searches on ERIC, and the results have not been to my satisfaction.
I do not want to risk missing any studies, so any information you could
provide would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Thomas H. Dinsmore
dinsmothemail.uc.edu

Dear Linguists,

In the course of a psycholinguistic study on syllabic segmentation in
French, we observed a relatively large proportion of responses which may
be qualified as "ambisyllabic"; for instance, "baron" syllabified as
bar-ron;
A survey of recent literature indicated similar findings for various
languages, e.g. Dutch, Arabic, German, Finnish, among others.

We would like to know whether phonological analyses of syllabification in
French, Dutch, German, Arabic, and Finnish appeal to the notion of
ambisyllabicity and if so, what phonological facts are invoked to support
such descriptions.

We will be happy to summarize responses for the list.
Thanks in advance.

 ALAIN CONTENT - ULB LAPSE CP191 - Ave F Roosevelt 50 B-1050 Bruxelles
 TEL (322) 650.42.27 - FAX (322) 650.22.09 - acontentulb.ac.be

Dear LinguistList-ers:

Next Fall I will be teaching History of the English Language for the first
time. My students will be general education students, mostly English Ed
majors. I am looking for some suggestions on texts that you have used and
liked--or used and not liked. Is there anything more recent than the good
old standby of Pyles? I would also be most grateful for any ideas on how to
make this course interesting and engaging. Any unusual approaches? Thanks.

Linda Rashidi

 **************************************************
 Linda Stump Rashidi, Ph.D.
 Undergraduate Coordinator, SHSS
 Al Akhawayn University Box 1885
 Ifrane 53000
 Morocco
 
 office: (212) 586-2475 home: (212) 586-2295
 fax: (212) 556-7140
 e-mail: L.Rashidialakhawayn.ma
**************************************************