LINGUIST List 5.187

Sat 19 Feb 1994

Qs: Elizabethan English, Went, Fieldwork, Technology

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. "Amy J. Schafer", Eliz. Eng. word freq. reference
2. , be > went
3. Picus Sizhi Ding, Req: Advice on doing fieldwork in China
4. Rosa Volpe, Technology and foreign language skills

Does anyone know of a good reference, on- or off-line, for word frequency
counts for Elizabethan English? Please post responses to either:

 schaferlinguist.umass.edu or
 mkandersonamherst.edu

Thanks -- Amy Schafer

Could someone please provide me the reference to the article in which
'went' was derived from 'be' by rule.

David Eddington

I plan to do fieldwork with a minority people called Pumi in China. I'll
basically be collecting data from Yunnan and Sichuan, where the language
is spoken.

As a Chinese not really living in China for long, and never doing field-
work with minority peoples there, I'd like to hear from others' stories
and advice on my future adventure. Experience from researchers in Hong
Kong will probably be most useful, as I am a permanent resident of Macau,
but I hold a Chinese passport (from the mainland China).

Please e-mail me directly at dinplingfac.anu.edu.au

Thanks.
 Picus Ding

Hello, I need your help on the following issue:

My research is on foreign language processes (Italian is the language I am
presently working with). I am very much interested in studying the role of
technology on the development of foreign language skills: comprehension
(listening and reading) and production (writing and speaking). My work
aims particularly at BEGINNING foreign language learners, thus my
theoretical framework considers the building up of nonlinguistic
information (provided by visual input) as an anchor to the development of
the linguistic knowledge (at the level of discourse) about the target
language. This approach allows me to focus on meaning (content) while
attending and developing linguistic knowledge (form). One of the
advantages of such an approach is to bring into play the learners' prior
knowledge and schemata about the world into the learning process about the
target language.

I would like to find out more about present and past research on the role
of visual materials (films, videos - such as French in Action, Destinos,
and others) on the development of foreign language skills at the BEGINNING
LEVEL. I am interested in writing a comprehensive review of the literature
about the role of visual input on foreign language learning. I hope there
are many of you out there who can provide this information. I appreciate
your time and consideration.

Rosa Volpe
Learning Technology Center
Vanderbilt University
Peabody College
Box 45
Nashville, Tennesse 37203
tel: 615 - 343-7949
fax: 615 - 343-7556