Reading for professional purposes in native and foreign languages : abstracts, 1982

Reading for professional purposes in native and foreign

languages : abstracts, 1982

Citation for published version (APA):

Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven (THE). Vakgr. Toegepaste Taalkunde (1982). Reading for professional

purposes in native and foreign languages : abstracts, 1982. (Foreign-language Acquisition Research : report;

Vol. 8), (LSP : international conference, Eindhoven University of Technology : abstracts; Vol. 1). Technische

Hogeschool Eindhoven.

Document status and date:

Published: 01/01/1982

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~--.-..

---T.H.EINOHOVEN

READING FOR PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES IN NATIVE

p.rm

FOREIGN

LANGUAGES

ABSTRACTS

INTERNATIONAL

~YMPOSIUM

ON

LSP

~.UGUST

21 3

AND.4

1982

Report no.S Foreign-language Acquisition Research THE

Department of Applied Linguistics, Sub-faculty of Philosophy

&

Social Sciences

EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

P.O.Box 513, 5600 MS, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Acknowledgments

Symposium Organization

Symposium Secretariat

Location of Symposium

Guidelines for Speakers and Chairpersons

Changes in Programme

Conference Proceedings

Lunch Facilities

Social Programme

Conference Programme

Parallel Sessions Speakers

Parallel Sessions Schedule

Chairpersons Schedule

Abstracts

List of Participants

Publications on Language Acquisition Eindhoven University of Technology

City Map Page 1 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 6 7 9 10 11

Enclosed as loose leaf

63

ACKNOWLEDGMEliTS

The Organizing Committee wishes to express its gratitude to the following agencies who in various ways have contributed to,this symposium:

- AlLA-LSP Commission - City of Eindhoven

- Eindhoven University of Technology

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, official carrier for the Symposium - The Open University, UK

UNESCO-ALSED/LSP network - Van Lanschot Bank, Eindhoven

SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZATION

Organizing Committee - F. Heynick - A.K. Pugh

J.M. Ulijn (Chairman)

- M. Buijs (Secretary and Treasurer)

- H. van Dinther } - W.A. van HeIden - D. Krishna-Prasad

Secretariat Ms. Maaike Buijs

addi tional assistance

Dept. of Applied Linguistics

Subfaculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences Eindhoven University of Technology

P.O.Box 513, 5600 MB Telephone: (0)40-472741

Eindhoven, The Netherlands

During symposium: (0)40-443452

LOCATION OF THE SYMPOSIUM

The campus is a short bus ride (under 5 minutes) from the Railway Station in the City Centre (see City Msp on back cover). All city buses stop at the station. Take Bus no.14 (in the direction TH/Heesterakker); the bus leaves the station on the hour and on the half hour. There are two bus stops inside the campus

de.

W,£den and

de Za.a1.e.

You can get down at either stop. You can, of course, also walk to the .campus (about

10 minutes) from the station.

Plenary sessions will be held in the Grote Zaal in the Auditorium (see insert on City Map).

Sessions on Topic 1 (Basic theory and hypothesis testing studies) will be in Collegezaal 13; Topic 2 (Linguistic analysis of text) will be in C011egezaal 14; Topic 3 (Teaching materials and the LSP curriculum) will be in Collegezaal 14 and 15.

Collegezaal 1411. will be available for workshops, informal get togethers and poster sessions.

There will be a book exhibition on various topics related to the symposium. (Some of the publishers will be sending representatives.) Space can be made available for participants to display their publications, teaching materials, etc.

If you are interested, please contact Frank Heynick (Organizer, Book exhibition) .

For poster sessions etc., please contact W.A. van HeIden (Chairperson, Collegezaal 14a).

GUIDELINES FOR SPEAKERS AND CHAIRPERSONS

Plenary sessions are limited to 45 minutes, followed by a 15-minute discussion period. Parallel sessions are limited to 25 minutes, followed by a lO-minute discussion period. Chairpersons are requested to allow two minutes for participants to go to another session.

Please check with H. van Pintner if you need special equipment during your presentation, especially if you have not already requested for it.

CHANGES IN PROGRAMME

Any last minute changes will be posted on the notice board. Participants are requested to check the board before the morning session starts ..

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

After the symposium, the committee plans to publish a book containing the papers of the invited speakers and a selection of the submitted contributions. The book will be published by Heinemann Press.

Participants will be entitled to reduced rates if they order their copy during the conference. Please fill out the appropriate slip and tear it off from your 'Last notes sheet' elsewhere in your symposium folder.

LUNCH FACILITIES

Two lunches and one dinner (on August 3) are included in the registration fee. Lunch will be served in the Senaatszaal. CoffeelTea will be available in the Auditorium.

Dinner is not available on campus, but the nearby City Center offers a wide range of restaurants.

SOCIAL PROGRAMME

On Monday (Auy-ust 2; at 20.30 bours), :'s. E. Klaassens-Postema, Alderman, City of Eindhoven, will host a reception for ~art1cipants on behalf of the City of Eindhoven, which celebrates the 750th anniversary of its charter this year.

On Tuesday evening (August 3; at 19.00 hours) there will be an excursion by coach in and around Eindhoven. Coaches will pick up participants,at the Motel Eindhoven (18.35 hours), the Park Hotel (18.45 hours) and the Holiday Inn (18.55 hours). If you are interested in jOining the excursion, please register with the secretary' and be present at one of these places at the times mentioned.

The excursion will be followed by drinks and dinner at an Indonesian restaurant, Met Ling, Vestdijk 86 (20.30 hours). If you want to attend the dinner, please register with the secretary*. Bus no. 7/8 (leaving the station on the hour and on the half hour) travels along Vestdijk. You can also walk to Mei Ling from the station (about 15 minutes).

~fltd~

18.00 - 19.20 Bet!:lstration in Audi tort UIII Ball

19.20 Openiq by the Rector . . pifi_,lTof.ir. J. Brkel_s

19.30 - 20.30 RetIding

tloJt

P'W'e64,wMt pultPO"e6 - p6ff4M~C. .

ev..ide.llc.e

in a.

C!W.u-~fu.. PeMpe.cti.Vi!. (J .11. Vlija, IU1ldl!.oven 'II. of TeclmololY)

20.30 - 21.30 IIeoeptioa by tile City of BiadIlo..,.. (Aud:l . . . iIIIU) Addr . . . b, . . , E, 1t1 . . _-Poe~, Al ... . . .

Prof.dr. ,J, W_lsfeldeJ", aetiDg haa of tile

i..-tMlll'l

of Ph:l10s0pby andS~ial l I c i _

Tuudag

3JuiA!.astU.t

9.00 - 10.00 Topic 1: lku.ie

.thwJt!l

and

hgpo.tJuu.,u

~4:tudiu.

R.de aeaverande (university of Florida, USA): Cepit!ve

processes 1n readiDg a foreign laaCUaCe

10.25 - 12.25 Parallel .essioDs Topics 1, 2 and 3 12.30 - 13.30 Luach (Senaatszaal)

13.80 - 14.30 Toptc 2: Ungu..illfu.

ana.tyw

ot!

Ux.t

L. Triable (Ellieritus, UniversitJ' of WashiDgtGlt, lISA) .. ud

II. Todd-Triable (Cou$ul taut. UK): Article 1lI.IHJ inreadilll scientific aad technical IDgltsh discourse

1 •• 30 - 1.6.55 Parallel sessions on Topics I, 2 and 3

19.00 -23.00 I::1Wialllton and diDl1er in au I.do_1 . . reat.-aa1:. (IIel

J.Utc)

AdIlrtttIsb,Pl'Of.dr. J.J .•. Bakker, ___ it.1II prot _ _ ·of Applied LiDgUiStics, J:indllovu U. of TeclmolOC1

Wetbte.ae

4th

~U4.t

t.OO - 10.00 Topic 3: Tttteh.ing ma..t~ aIICl theLS'P.~

A.D. Coben (Hebrew University, Jerusal_. Israell:

The use of _ntalistie measures in cleteraining LIP readtDg

pi'ob1ems

10.2S - 12.25 Parallel sessions on Topics 1, 2 and 3 12.30 - 13.30 Luach (Senaatszaal)

IS.30 - lS.1$ Parallel sessions on Topics 1 and 3

16. 35 ~ 11.30 ConeludiDg round table review (Cbau--: t.~Il.""'.

Op4tia

Unh'ara1t, aacl V.i versi t1 of Leeds. UX)

iMi

1: ~.tIce.oJt1l

ad

1tp.theI.iA ~

(4)

diS .

. .

.'

..

. a.G. B.rooka. (JIl'Ia,tIX): A .coIIparbon of uiae.t_'UI aM _ _ U~ _t..,.~

-.de18" reed1DC1n a seeoDd lancuace

F. lIeyalok (lladhoTelt t.J. of: TecJmoloey. The Jletherlaada)!

¥fIII1Ial

.

behavio1lF in d~: neu1'011nguistic l.p11eati_ tOI' UP ;NMi .... 11'~ Mears (U. of LoIidoD, t1X): WOl'd recopU:1011 iD foretp ~ A ••• Puch (Gpes 'G. a d 1I • .of Leeds, t1X)llyec

_...-.t

at . . .

fd."iIdIIn

aIId tert .

II. _Dlpllu (V.

oi

Texas at Austt.a, USA): bgUshaM .iallt,iII . . . pl'Of".1olIIB In India - a IIhtftiaC b a l _

•• Olshtain ..

t.

Dubtn (Tel Aviv Unh'ersitl'. brae]. '" 1I81 ... 81..,.of Southern CalUona1a. USA): Readlncstra't.!l&ies rese1II'claalld ttl! application to matertal development

.• ; Wo.jaiokl'(V. 01 Wanaw, Poland): Reading as

wt.-

8kl11: lUflllllistie-and pathophysiological consideratiODIII .

,ilIRfMfS

i

.1.

" t i s · (ll. o.f Utcm. BiratDPall. UI:)! s,..uctic . 1 _ i t " , 'IIJ in

IsCisl.tiYe writlng and its iDp11caU_ for &Cad_Ie

i . . .

~

I. ai_Kulka, i ... nston .. 11.. !iiI' (lle1we1r U •• J _ a l . . ,Israel): . Disc_se IUUtl,.is aad retIIling cQlllprelleDlIiou

J;

Deertllg (11. of: lJtrecht, The lfetlaerlanU): lead:t . . r a t . t •. 1.1 . . . ;U P.C . . .

.,taa

(U. of

onaw ••

Canada): 1.1 and ;U readinC stn~

discourse leYel considerations

1'. Iue!d.n .. 1.. 0 1 _ (0. of It1chlgan, AnD AriIor, tlIU): OIl tfIe. . .

i n t _ t s in LSII' tUlIe_se analysts ,: . C.J[.

LMat:

(11. of Sabtc .... aa. Canada): COdinc prec..- ill·~

. alpbabflt1c and lIIOl"Phemic scripts

II. 'ReII.r (TV "1'11 •• ftIG): LaboratOl'Y ezperl_ts and an' o N _ U . - l IIItlidy OD Ngi_ing learn1ng to. read a· fOl'elp laJl.lWllCe

ll. h i . . . . J. '1'uckel' (lea GuriOD U. o~ t:ll.e ll ... Israe1): VSI'iOe

COIlIpOIIUta o.f -relldillC cOlIpreheuslcm

1.1.. Wipf (l'Urdue U •• USA): Towards blproved read1ne t1ueaeyof

pl'OfetJ.ional texts

't!J1C3: t...i.ItQw:ti.c.~.u

06

t:uU . . lit. Alber - bewelf (La . . l U., Quibec. CaBada) : CoIIIparaUftaaalyt1ts ,of

. pro4uC1it ... ~IOCieal and syatsctual te_fol"llatiOD ~.,... ill. Bagllalt, Gel'llll8; i'reDCh ad 'tuIIal_ . . . tlae:lr . . . t..-. ... ftdtall\'

1'.1. Davies 6 T. Gr . . . . (U. of .o.ttt . . ~. lilt): 1.fOftlati_.~_ . ia;'cteatUic ·'aDd pl"OfesslODS.l texts: hOW to fiDCl t~

-aDd

.fJ· ...

111. G .... ts (Ben Gm-:loa U.· o.f the Negev and Jewish TheolOS'ies18e11iliU"J'. lara.l): Teacktng ElL students to. extract structural i.f~tiOD

f_·shstl'aCts·

J.

Renkella

(11. of Tilburg, The htberlllDds): Par_tel'll of laical ~1.,.rshy .

r.

Salater (U. o.f AD"5, Venezuela):CODpound aoailiUlll ~es:l.

1ICiesttif1e-techoical literature: proportion lIDd rat1 __ 1. Y. fObin &: 1.. Apbek (lien Gurion U. o.f the h e - and Jewish 1'Iaeolorlesl

SeId_ry. Israel); 0. the particular probl_ of selacted' :r-ttcm words' . ill the readiae o.f 841111'_ a5 a foreilD l.IIi:Icuage

a. Willi_ .(tI. of Ast_, BiniachaD, UK): A cocaiti'Ve ~ao.to bcl1sll a-inal cOllPOlDlds and iapUcatiODS for teachill« . . tert.u

. ' . . . .

'to!!CI:f_~Md~LS'~'"

.

"

.•. AltOI'd r n l ,

v. of

Caabridge. tJJ[) :'!'ru8ferfl lulc.·l . . . . . .a4. tbe

'UU'!UiIC

of valid f ... aq p'aIIaI' . ' .

L ...

tea

II.; •• Cent",

(I.u.

Leuv.n,Belat.): . .

to.

~~.

titfteuUt •• In . . l.SP t _ t . ,

. ; ... ...." •• L. Martis'. B.S. ObeHt(C14lftla4 atat:e U ... , :lIF'.fIIIIa' :

. _ a U a t l 0 _ tna1aellt -of rMdtq 8II:1U8, ia' e l _ t u 3 i '.11.-,1.-.1 ..

10"1'881 ... teat. in , _ Illd ted 8tat.. " '

. , . . . M . . . . II J. GDlaa (!!lalfa V .• Israel): All aa;,aBQM ~iiIlOllUl'ae

,t_ ...

~.,_t1l_t1ClJ ' . " .. '

4.D . . . (UCLAlaulUlbolulace

Prop_,

~ B.,

PIiC):

A ... 1'8 . . . R81aeerlq reading , . . t . . ' .'

$\..,...

A. ~, .J •. 1I01_s II II. Scott (C&tllol1c V.of

.Iao

P,aal ••

,

, .ranl):

'tta.

Brald,l1_ ESP project - adale._ts in

Pl'_toe.1a4

reaearch : ,

.L.

,JIIIoItd

,(CtaaJole. V ••

Pracue,

Czechoslovakia):

LiapdIllUcl11111,.ti-. o~LiD> ' .

. I ••• h'ley <"UORlU. of Stnppore): A ~. for ... l.~ Qe , ~ .."Ua required in sci_titlc aDd tectuao1~ .~

... tlle·

PIIIIIiIt_

of lIUlt~t1on ill .ot tile ·aotllel'· ~ ,

M. Ltlt"ta _ _ (Ynj.

n ...

l •• Bel,illlll): ~'Uq readia;; CClllllIII ... 1oB: _ . . . 1. f~ GerItaIt " foracaclelllie purpos . .

•

~

"tap_,

J. ~,

P.

"1_, P.

'fam Dan;. J . •

Ud

cn ...

~"1z V •• JeddUl.

s8u4i ....

"i.): Reading for .,.:tite :reeding ~,for .

tile Faculty ofB_tit Seiences at lt1118 AlIcIulaIIIbU.i ...

rat'tJ'

,if.' ...

lr1;Jl(.ri.,. V. Brusaelll, Belall1111):lle l'i!IIpeI't~d.·_~ 1:1 . . . .,.. . . 1;1 . . d.n vocaulal:re C,ueral cd'

orieatatla ...

18illl*:l-Uqu

«1_

pr6pMoaUonfl la lecture de text •• IKllt11lttfi . . . . J!4U'

des 616_-llIIPatftl"ll , . ' ,

a.iI.a. O'FlllllaCaa(Si_.'AG.

~ell,S."ie.s. ftUIIl~.;rtm): A,~

ior t.~q ami JAe;ratJl8 to read profeHiemal tats ta a.~

ferelpl~at 8 1 _ AG , . "

B.Ola (JuvsJ>_tvsV .• P6cs. Jltl.qary): JIIow Jlpeot.!'1.ts

.,..,.,&1

_11811.'

•• P,

ltoberts

(11. ·of

Ot'-.

Canada): Billl11U1 eontut_lti.t~

. .

,fori8P " , "

It.E • • tap

(ladian

Scbool of .taes. Db_bad,luia): . . ~ II '~"

. l1ftlldstle _ i _ a U o a ' , '~ ,"

,iI. 4e,Sua1'8z'fCanllobo V., Venezuela): A _ _ 1ca1;~_ . . ~.waU"

latta iJl B8P • wttitspecial relevance to l'IlIadJ:q

for

~4.

'

JJGJ'!IOII98 ill IIct__ stutes . '.', ,

A.I • • lIIn...,. (Bud.ape.t TV .• Jluapry): Types of tes't$ amlJtooIt tQ~ . iluqa.riaa for ~1al pul'pOllleS usinC them . . " :, '.,'

?t.C.

hst _ _

•

H. van ntiel" F. Creemerlil('l'il~ U.t_1II11;)', .~ 1 . . . . ): Bevelop1.1111 a :te~lng c o u r s . , ,

L.

'f,

Suet., ~ .G. ZUCk (I'!1Drlpt SehOlar, Lublla. Polaad a1Ul V.of

iftOld.-:-' . . . Alta Arbor. USA): TIle main t4ea: specialist aDd _-.,..ttilUt , . . . ts ;

Topic 1 Topic: :I 'l'optc: 3

TIU6I14r/.

31aI~

COftBE

10.35 -

11.05

BrooIuI Buckll1,t a:I.18ea Beatie et

at.

11.08 - 11.45 Wo;lllleld ft.eIlk_ Al.for4

11.48 - 1:&.15 . 8.,..10k Alber - :::..1:1

o'n ...

WlfCH

lola-SO - 15.10 Vo 01pht:1 Droad Zuck/ZIIek

TEA

11 • • -

111.1& Jlleara Salacer

. .

t~

18.15 - 16.&5 Bl __ ltulka et al 11'1111_ hberts ...

{ff4nadag •.

4th

~

COFFEl

10 •• 5 - 11.05 Pqh Daviell LUt;teJlU'lll$.

11.05 - 11.4& D_dac Graetz Br_

11.41 -

!.t • • I.-ag Tobin/Apaeit Poley

WlfCH

Topic 1 Topic 3 TopiC :I

13.

ao -

14.1,0

BhaUa

ssallaS""

.e.~ et al.

10&.10 - 14.110 Wipf Dayes &'t" al. Da lures TEA

15.1&- 15.1$ . . hr BeosouIf_:Golo lIastap._. al.

15.55 - 1' • • Weisll/TUcker Stach JI_l,.th TiM to bearrCIRIAtd "fol'coutributions 1,.. J)uhill and Gluta", 01 ...

...-..

~fq.<!cS~ 18.30 - 2L3O •• 00 - 10 •. 00 10.'1$ - 12.16 11.30 - 14.30 1 •• 30 -16.55 •. 00 - 10.00

1 •• 21 - 12.1&

13.30 .-16 • •

Grote Zaal: L. Trilllllie (tl., ot 1fuJIlqtoD, .11IM)

0011..-_1 13: B. 1fll1:l_(tl. ot_toe,

ct·

.. 14:

p.e. un

cIeI1 800gaut (Bin.

"U.

of TechnolOfa)

n 15: D. Pr •• a4 (81ndl!cmm tl. of 'redmol.o!D')

Grote kal: A. Cohen (IIebrew1mhVlritl'. Ifl'lMl1) COll . . . l 13~ J, BfIII'lItema (CathOlic Vliltveui't7 of

Tilburg, ~ •• therlaeds)

.. 14: G. Sieper (11. of ~l . . ~.

W.GeftlaBy)

" 15: Y.A. van . . 1\l1li1 (.~ 11.'.0'

TeelmololO')

Gnte. Z . . l: B. de B_gran4e (l.!. 01'1'101'10., 18A)

C011ee_lI&a1 13: T. Buclt1n (l.!. of llleMcan, . , .. 14: It. Steele (U. ot Sydae7, ~aUa) " 15: R.G. BrooKa (lfat.FoUBd; "'~U_u!ll

Reselll'Cb, VI)

CoUepzaal 13: T. van '1'_ . . . . 1 (11, of ftndrt •. ..,..

..

Netherlands)

n 14: L. Baten (CathOlic U. of'~,"lp_r .. lIS: •. J .t.. lletjers (Ca'thOl1c V.of 1'11blll'C.

The HetherlaDda)

" 14& (for addltioaal actin'U •• ):

W.A. "lUI BeWan (Bla41loYlllll V. of TeeJmolO11)

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTIVE MORPHOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTICAL TERM'-FOR'~TION PROCESSES IN ENGLISH, GEru,~N, FRENCH AND RUSSIAN AND THEIR IMPORTANCE FOR LSP READING

R. Albvr.-VeL!Iotl.

l.ava.t UrUVeMU:y, Qu.tb

e.C,

Canada

Type of study: The present paper is based on a statistical analysts of the most productive term-formation processes in English, German, French and Russian in the field of chemistry.l) On the one hand, the study deals with the morphological aspect of term-formation, that is, the most pro-ductive affixes involved in term-formation in the four languages. On the other hand, it deals with the syntactical aspect of term-formation, that is, the type of syntactic structures involved in the formation of complex terms.

Data and Results:

!~_~~!P~1~~!~~!_!~!~:!~~~!!~~_e!~~~~~=~:

Results on the morphological aspect in term-formation involve an exhaustive listing of the affixes that are active in term-formation in the field of spectroscopy, a subfield of chemistry. The list of affixes is arranged according to their productivity as well as according to the type of con-cept they deSignate.

~~_~~~!!~!!~!!_!~~:!~!~!!!~~_e!~~=~~~~:

Results on the syntactical aspect of term-formation involve an exhaustive listing of the syntactical structures of complex terms arranged according to their productivity.

~ication of results in the field of LSP reading courses:

It is commonly accepted that a good knowledge of term-formation processes improves the reading skill necessary for reading foreign LSP. However, as L. Hoffmann2) pointed out, so far not much attention has been paid to the fact that the productivity of the term-formation processes is of great importance. Our paper demonstrates the important role that produc-tivity plays in term-formation with respect to the teaching of LSP reading courses for professional purposes.

~-.-~.---~---1) Doctoral thesis under the direction of Prof. Guy Rondeau, Professor of Terminology at Laval [niversity, quebec City, Canada.

2} L. Hoffmann, Kommunikationsmittel Fachsprache, Berlin, Akademie-Verlag, 1976, p.358.

TRANSFER OF LEXICAL MEANING AND THE LEARNING OF VALID FREQUENCY GRAMMAR

M.

A.e.noltd

(FolUlleJLty Cambltidee Un.tVIUU>Lt.y}

Annutey Coac.h HOMe, Ba.nk., neal!. Lyndhwu,,t, Hamp.6hitte S04 1FrJ, Engtand

This paper is based on a book which will be published shortly. The psycho-logy has been applied in English reading course for development engineers at Siaaens AG, Munich, over the last two years.

The book shows that learning is a dual process. Two types of learning are formed by different rates of change in perceived data. Each type has characteristics which have contrasting equivalents in the other. For example, Type L, observed in lexis, leads to extensions of knowledge. Type G, observed in grammar in sustained competent use, leads to static knowledge. The static state is caused by one-way learning. From lexical meanings to sets of grammatical alternatives the relationships are con-stant and can be learnt. In the reverse direction, the change in rela-tionship is rapid and random, and learning cannot take place.

The two characteristics of lexical meaning are: Type L - knowledge (~ field of reference), Type G - perception of the field as a unit. Units are in constant relationships with sets of words (inflected forms, etc.). Type L meaning is transferable between languages, either directly or by modi-fication. Two or more equivalents show that the overlap of their fields is transferable.

Bilingual vocabulary can be learnt in order to introduce transfer. Trans-lation can be avoided by not extending the process to native grammar. After the introduction, native vocabulary serves no purpose and is phased out by fluent reading.

Type G processes take place synchronously in the perceived present and Type L successively over extended context. Readine foreign texts when knowing too small a vocabulary can be made efficient by reading a native translation first. The amount read must exceed verbatim recall. The native grammar cannot then be recalled but Type L meanings can be. Extensive reading is required to achieve and maintain the frequencies of change which form one-way learning. When grammar is learnt at -valid frequencies, successive processeS are converted to synchronous. Fluent comprehension results. This is also an essential precursor of thinking and speaking in a foreign languaee.

Grammar explained or analyzed can only be learnt at lexical frequencies.

On the Siemens courses this introductory phase 1s carefully controlled. All grammatical examples are taken froa a concordance of the, specialist texts used for initial reading. This material is later re-encountered at valid Type G frequencies.

HOW TO OVERCOME READING DIFFICULTIES IN AN LSP TEXT

L. Ba.ten and A. M. Co1tYut

CathoUc UniVeJL5Uy, Leaven, Be.f.g.<.um

In recent development in cognitive psychology it is advocated that reading is a construction of meaning by the reader, i.e. the reader has 'to make an effort to get at the meaning'. On the other hand, it is clear that the text itself contributes to enabling the reader to construct meaning. Since we are dealing with students reading 'specific' texts in a foreign language, we need to take into account the following elesents: 1. what are the parameters of difficulty in a foreign language text for

specific purposes;

2. what are the reading strategies the reader has to apply in order to efficiently tackle the text.

If we accept that parameters of difficulty as established for mother-tongue reading (cf. 1) apply to an even higher degree of difficulty in foreign language reading, then the followinr; hypotheses need to be for-mulated:

a. The meaning of an expository text is easier to construct if the reader tackles the text with a schema known p~n to reading. This implies that the schema should be p~e-taught. Thus, if we assume that there exists a basic schema to expository texts, then this schema should be pre-taught. Activation elaboration,and adaptation of the existing schema will occur whenever meaning is constructed from a new expository text.

h. If we assume that the LSP-reader cannot systematically rely on the micro-structure as a help to construct meaning, then the concents underlying the text should be reactivated or introduced prior to a reading of a text.

On the basis of evidence in LSP teaching, we can advocate the validity of the above hypotheses. Hence, from a didactic point of view, we can propose the following approach:

1. Global reading: a. presuppositions about the text

b. hypothesis formation about the macro-structure 2. Confirmation of the hypothesis bases of the micro-structure (made

by the reader during reading).

An LSP text in French meant for law students will be elaborated upon as an example.

COGNITIVE PROCESSES IN READING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

R. de Beaugltande

ErtCjwh Veplllttmeltt, Ul'Iive!Wliy a ~ F to.>Uda, r;a)ne-llvlU.e, USA

Though it is customary to distinguish 'four skills' in foreign language learning - speaking, listening, writing, reading few attempts have been made to differentiate them in terms of current research on cognitive processing. This neglect has been a persistent and debilitating obstacle to effective instructional methods.

The primary use of foreign languages in academic settings is for reading scientific and technical materials. This purpose determines and limits the strategies learners apply. Memory processes can rely more on recog-nition than on recall. Fuzzy parsing of the surface text frequently sUffices to recover content, so that minor gaps or uncertainties are not damaging. Context enables astute guesses analogous to those applied to unfamiliar native-language words. Cognates can be recognized from only partial similarities to native-language versions. Sound-letter cor-respondences are not essential unless they have morphoiocical implica-tions as well as phonological ones.

It follows that we need a theoretical model of fuzzy processing to explore

bow well comprehension can operate from a partial and provisional sampling of the surface text. Studies of eye movements and skim reading by humans and computers reveal the importance of bottom-up selective focus and fixation accompanied by top-downpattern-matcbing and hypothesis-testing. For a foreign language, the question is how far these largely routine or automatic processes can be accomodated to different conditions. especially the distribution of crucial cues in morphemic and syntactic patterns. Plainly, the grammatical differences between the native and the foreign language playa deciSive role, not as formali ties, but as deter-minants of shallow-level processing.

At the other end, guidelines for increasing the international readability of scientifiC and technical writing are urgently needed. Terms should be mnemonic, descriptive, and standardized, rather than neologistic and isolated (e.g. names of persons or companies). Simple, straightforward syntax should be preferred over co~plex; methods to reduce conflicts in word order and formation for a given foreign audience should be stated and disseminated.

A theoretical outline-model of the above factors will be developed and illustrated with the findings of experiments in training English readers in chemistry to understand German technical articles.

AN ADVANCED ENGLISH COURSE FOR STUDENTS OF MATHL~ATICS

M. Bef'L6ou.o~a.n* and J. Gota.n **

*

VepCI/I.tme.nt

06 FolteA..gn Langu.a.gu, Hai6a. UrUIJeJt6liy, l.6ltaU

**

Ve.pMtment 06

Mathe.matiC6, Hai6/1 UrUveJt6.i:ty, I.6ltaU

The language of Mathematics is one of the most specialized of scientific languages. It needs to be specially learned by the native speaker of English, and 1s even more difficult for the student of £FL.

We have prepared a special Advanced English Course for first-year students of Mathematics at the Haifa University which consists of a series of thirteen mathematics texts accompanied by exercises based on an analysis of mathematical discourse. The course is also appropriate for mathe-maticians who need to learn to read difficult mathematical texts in Engl1sh.

Tbe purpose of this paper is to present a representative mathematics text and its accompanying exercises (which may be used as a test. depen-ding on the needs of the group) and to show how these exercises help students to arrive at a clearer understanding of the vocabulary. cohesive devices, rhetorical functions (illocutionary acts), and sentence and paragraph structures which constitute the language of Mathematics. Tu€se exercises do not merely test knowledge of the particular text to which they are attached, but they can be applied by the student to all mathe-matics texts in general.

SYNTACTIC DISCONTINUITY IN LEGISLATIVE WRITING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR ACADEMIC LEGAL PURPOSES

V.K. Bha.t.i.a

Language.

S:tud.i.e<>

Und, u,uvV"J.>-i..ty 06

AHon,

B.iJuninnham England

Legislative writing displays an enormous range of qualificational in-sertions in clause-medial syntactic positions, a great majority of which are placed within the structure of syntactic constituents, elements of which generally co-occur, thus rendering them discontinuous. Two experi-ments were conducted to investigate the effect of this kind of syntactic discontinuity on the reader's processing of sentences containing such discontinuities. Two sets of 15 and 65 non-native learners of English were subjected to a repeated-measures correlated samples experimental procedure. Their performance on a modified claze procedure was measured. The results obtained were highly significant and they clearly demonstra-ted that a majority of the subjects found it much more difficult to pro-cess the sentences which contained discontinuous constituents than those in which such discontinuities had been removed by some kind of syntactic reorganization. An attempt was also made to determine the nature of 'defective' strategies employed by the low-achievers with the help of a qualitative analysis of their responses to cloze items.

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND READING COMPREHENSION

S. Bium-Kullut,

E.

Levenhton

and R.

N.iA

CommulLleatioM Inh.tU:ute and Sehoo! 06 EdueaA:ion, Heblt ..

w

UlLlvVt6-Uy

JeltW>a..Wn, 14!tael

The paper reports ongoing research investigat~ng reading comprehension on the macro-level in first and second language. One basic assumption underlying these studies is that certain features of macro level text structure can account for difficulties in comprehension independently of the text's level of linguistic complexity. This assumption was tested with ESP economics students, using texts in economics and sociology. A discourse analysis of these texts revealed that differences in the frames suggested by the texts accounted for differences in levels of comprehension between texts of comparable linguistic difficulty. The paper also reports attempts underway to devise a 'discourse cloze' for testing reading comprehension on the macro-level. In the suggested dis-course cloze all the words deleted from a passaee of continuous disdis-course are markers of cohesion, i.e. of relationships between propositions. It 1s argued that the successful performance of such a task depends on the reader's ability to reconstruct the macro-propositions underlyin~ the text, and therefore a better test of a reader's overall grasp of a text than regular cloze procedure, where many words can be supplied from the micro-context. This claim is supported by a comparative analysis of the contexts of deletion in the regular cloze and the discourse cloze and by results from pilot testing of school age children in Israel who took both tests.

A COMPARISON OF NINETEENTH- AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY MODELS OF READING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

R.G. 811.Oob..1>

Na.tLona! Founcia;t.ion 60lt Educa.tLona! Re6I!.MCh .in Eft!lland and {JIa.ie6 Slough, BeI!./U., fn!;IlIlnd

Although diagrammatic models of reading and other language processes in the first language have been proposed for just over a century. little attention has been given to adapting them, or to drawing out their implications. for reading in a second language. The principal reason may have been that Ll reading itself is still imperfectly understood, hut the growth in L2 reading bas increased the need for even tentative theories about the psychological processes that subserve this skill. This paper is an attempt to sketch the history of psychollnguistic model-making with special reference to L2 reading, to compare nineteenth-and twentieth-century modelS, nineteenth-and to suggest directions in which models of L2 reading may develop. Two subsidiary themes will he the use in the nineteenth-century literature of data from patients suffering loss of the ability to read (alexia). and the relative contributions of visual and phonological processes or imagery in L2 reading.

A NORM-REFERENCED ENGINEERING READING TEST

Jamu. Vean &'tOWII

UCLA'China Exchanqe PJtoq.'tam

Zhol1g,!,/uut Urti.vvu>-Uy,

PRe

This study investigates the descriptive characteristics, reliability and validity of a norm-referenced test of engineering reading ability. The test was built from the 'best' items in three longer tests, pre-viously developed at UCLA in a cooperative project between MA students in TlSL and profeasors of engineering. The shorter composite Version was administered to four groups of people: 1. American engineering graduate students; 2. American ESL graduate students; 3. Chinese engineering graduate students; and 4. Chinese EFL graduate students.

The descriptive statiatics were calculated for all four groups. Then, classical test theory reliability (KR20 and Split-half methods) waS cal-culated for each group individually. as well as for each nationality. Reliability was also considered from the generalizability theory (G theory) pOint of view. Using analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques, G theory enabled the investicator to isolate variance due to differences among items and subtests as sources of testing error. In addition, G theory allowed prediction of reliability coefficients at various other numbers of items and subtests. Construct validity was also experimentally demonstrated. BaSed on the data from the four groups above, ANOVA proce-dures were used to show that the test discriminates significantly between native and non-native speakers of English, as well as between engineers and non-engineers. The results indicate that the test was a reliable and valid test of engineering ability for the samples involved in the study.

These results are discussed in terms of using such a test for decision making in EST and for further experimental investigation of what fac-tors contribute to engineering (if not EST) readinc ability.

PEDAGOGY ex-~ilentic

_

TREATMENT OF READING SKILLS IN ELEMENTARY COLLEGE-LEVEL FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEXTS IN THE UNITED STATES

B.A. Beatie, L

I-la/LUn and B.S. ObeMt

VepaJtA:ment 06 HodeJtn Langw:tqUJ, Cieve.1.and

S;ta.te

ltniveMLty, Cteve.1.and,

OlM.o, USA

Hypothesis: An examination of basic language skills texts currently used in American colleges and universities for the teaching of French, German and Spanish will provide a measure of the extent to which the

'state of the art' in reading theory is being applied in the classroom. Background: The authors of this paper are preparing a monograph on

'Developing Reading Skills in Foreign Languages' 1nwhich the learBing model depends strongly on first-language-to-second-language transfer possi-bilities as well as on other aspects of current reading theory. A preliminary task in the elaboration of this developmental model was an analYSis of the methodologies apparent in widely-used elementary text-books.

Account of study performed: Eighteen recent popular texts (Six each in French, German and Spanish) purporting to teach reading within a 'four skills' format were surveyed. In addition, aft available 'reading only' texts were included. In addition to examining the actual readings and supplementary exercises presented in each text, the study analyzed the implicit and explicit approaches reflected in the instructions to the teacher, the use of visual cues, and the types of skills taught. Aspects such as the treatment of vocabulary-building, the distinctions made among reading purposes, and the exploitation of potential transfer pro-cesses from the native language were important components in the evalua-tion of the correlaevalua-tion between current research and practice.

Conclusions: With few exceptions, there is

no

correlation between current reading research and textbook pTactice. In most cases the only atten-tion given in basic texts to developing reading skills is to provide prose passaees for reading. Those texts whose purported aim is solely the development of reading skills are the ones which least reflect current theory.

THE USE OF MENTALISTIC ~mASURES IN DETERMINING LSP READING PROBLEMS

A.V.

Cohen

Sehoo! 06 Educ.ilion,

HeMW Uni.veILOi:ty,

JeJ1.U6atem, IMtael

As there is an increase in materials for training stUdents to read LSP texts more successfully, there seems to be a commensurate need to vali-date the selection of specific content objectives that are included in these materials. Particularly when these materials are based on intui-tive hunches about the sources of reading difficulties, it would appear valuable to investigate empirically where non-native readers' problems actually lie.

One means for conducting such investigation is thrOUgh the use of menta-listic measures. Through the use of think-aloud and self-observational data (Cohen & Hosenfeld. 1981), it is possible to gain important insights into sources of misunderstanding in the reading of LSP texts. Use of mentalistic measures in error analysts work has tended to focus primarily on speaking and writing (e.g., Cohen & Robbins, 1976; Cohen & Aphek. 1981), largely because areas of misunderstanding are more overtly access-ible to an outside observer. In the case of reading, the investigator does not have as many overt clues to sources of misunderstanding (even with the use of miscue analysis).

This paper describes think-aloud and self-observational measures and then illustrates how such measures have been used to investigate reading both on the part of non-native and native readers. Such studies have provided two kinds of information:

1. about successful and unsuccessful strategies that learners use in reading; and

2. about particular structures and vocabulary that cause misunderstan-ding at various levels of meaning.

Cohen, A.D. & Robbins, M .• Towards assessing interlanguage performance.

Language

L~ning, 1976, 26 (1), 45-66.

Cohen, A,D. & Aphek, E., Easifying second language learninr.

SSLA.

1981. 3 (2), 221-233.

Cohen. A.D. & Hosenfeld. C., Some uses of mentalistic data in second-language research.

Language

Le~tning, 1981, 31 (2).

INFORMATION-STRUCTURES IN SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL TEXTS: HOW TO FIND THEM AND USE THEM

F.

I.

Va.v~u

a.nd T.

!;ltewe UMVelt6,{;ty 06 NottUtgham, Eng.la.nd

Interactive models of reading are sources of hypotheses for both Ll and L2 research and teaching. If they are to be tested by researchers and exploited in teaching, they need to be supported by a methodology for monitoring reader performance in a variety of tasks, and by reliable methods for identifying relevant text variables.

The paper focusses on text variables, in particular on the 'information' or 'conceptual' structure on which a text is based. A finite number of distinct information structures across subjects and languages is pro-posed.

A method for identifying the information structures of scientific, geo-graphical and historical texts developed in Ll research is described. Analyses of the distinct grammatical and lexical patterns which realize the structures are presented.

The use of the method in L2 learning is demonstrated with analyses of 'authentic' texts drawn from the professional course materials of over-seas students in a British university.

J.

pe.~

pe.pt.

06

AppUtd Ungu.i6.tiC4, Un.l.Veltl>.(.bJ 06

(ftlte.c.M

The

Ne.thtJl..l.andl.

Tbe .1. of thi. r . . . . rcb ia to collect data concerning tbe r •• ding rata of re.der. in th.ir .otber toaeue compared to tb.ir reading rate in a for.ien lanSUag.. Our inveatigationa focus on the qlleat10n of to what ezt.nt obaerved.differenc •• in r.ading rat. betw.en readera in foreisu lansuage reading taska - specifically wben reading Frencb texta - can be explained by differences in tbeir ability to recognize iaolated warda In tbe foreign langll&le. and to wbat extent aucb differ.Dcea reflect 4

~~ variability in reading proficiency also displayed in motber tongve reading perforaAnce.

It is expected that tbe re.lllta obtained in this experiment will yleld eaUllat.s as to the "OllDt of extra tille needed for readine foreign laneuage t.xt!! of varying t.xt type at different levels at toreign lsngu.,e profi-ciency. when ceapared to the reading of texts in the mother tongue. In the experiments subjects were given lexicsl tasks in Dutcb and French, tollowed by a reading aSSignment. In this aSSignment. three types of text were read: tactual texts and opinionated texts - both from news-papers, and couraebook texts. For each t.xt type, subjects r.ad tour texts 1n Dutch and tour in French, of 120 words each.

Subjects were selected from three categories, six subjects per category. These were inexperienced foreign language readers (secondary education only), more advanced foreign language readers (2 years of university training in French) and experienced readers (graduates in French). Addi-tionally, a control group was formed of 4 native speakers of French, who were only given the tasks in French.

The results to be presented and discussed concern the absolute reading times of subjects per language and per type at text, their acores on the first language snd foreign language lexical decision tasks, the relation hetween thsir results across the two languages and the interaction of reading times with subject category and text type.

THE BRAZILIAN ESP PROJECT - ACHIEVEMENTS IN PRACTICE AND RESEARCH

T. Veyu, A. Cel.lm(., 1. Hc£mu and If. S(!o;tt Ca..thoUe tirUvvu,Ltlj 06

sa.c

PaJ.Lto, Bltaz,u

The paper will be in three parts:

1. The first section presents a brief history of the Brazilian ESP Project, and describes the contributions of the supporting institutions - the Brazilian Minis~ry of Education, the British Council. the UK Overseas Development Administration, and the Catholic University of Sao Paulo. 2. As regards achievements, teaching has now moved from the 't2aditlonal'

reading comprehension procedures using specialised texts and exerciaes

activating lexical skills. to a needs-based use of texts practicing skimming, scanning., search-reading and detailed comprehension tech-niques following exercise typologies.

In addition, a self-access experiment is being carried out at the Uni-versity of Santa Catarina and a 'Reading Awareness Workshop' task book-let has been devised for ESP teachers.

3. Another of the project's aims is to stimulate research into reading comprehension. Apart from the more practical papers and theses mentioned above, research has been carried out into text topic preferences, errors in reading comprehension through the use of translation techniques, and complex noun-groups - one of the principal areas of difficulty for Portu-guese-speaking readers. Research in progress includes an analysis of the suitability of top-down or bottom-up approaches to teaching reading comprehension in a foreign language, transfer of reading comprehension strategies from first to second language (a project being carried out in secondary schools in the State of Mato Grosso), the establishment of a 'Minimal Discourse Grammar' heing undertaken as an empirical study of texts in all the participant universities. and research into Cloze testing as related to the reading comprehension process.

The paper will briefly describe these projects and will include suitable illustrative material.

LINGUISTIC LIMITATIONS OF LSP

L.

V~ozd

Chan£e6

Univ~ity,

Pkague, CZeChohlovakia

This paper discusses the linguistic limitations of an LSP within the context of the Dutch andGermaaW1rtschaftslinguistic tradition and the tradition of the structural functional school. The discussion is ex-tended to include theautbor's experience of German as an LSP (where the language functions as either La or L3 and where a knowledge of both speaking and reading is required).

The special subject areas considered are applied biology, machinery and economics; comments are made on the relationship between LSP and non-LSP in textbooks in these subject areas.

A PROCEDURE FOR DEVELOPING THE READING SKILLS REqUIRED IN SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL TEXTBOOKS WHEN THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IS NOT THE MOTHER TONGUE

l.A.

Foley

Engwh Lal1fluage and

UteJtcU:Wle

1lepalLtment, The Na.ti.ona.l Hn.iveMUy 06 Singapa~e,'Singdpo4e

Hypothesis: To develop procedures that will help students to transfer reading skills in their native language to a second language with parti-cular reference to scientific and technological material.

Subjects:

Pilot

~tudy: N

=

78 tertiary level technological students of various linguistic background using English as a second language (in UK);

~~n ~tudy: N

=

93 Arabic speaking engineering students in first year degree courses at university where the medium of instruction WaS English

(in Saudi Arabia).

Procedures: Texts: Well tested material with broad engineering concepts but with marked differences in their readability level.

The division of the procedure into two parts with a minimum of two weeks between was to discover:

1. whether the texts, after cloze procedure had been applied, would show the students' knowledge of lexical items within their syntactic set-ting and their ability to use cohesive devices;

2. whether restored texts would show by questions and non-verbal outcomes that the student could obtain access to the set of meanings laid out by the writer together with perceptual efficiency (interplay of text and diagram).

Results:

Pilot

J.>tudy

indicated that stud,ents obtaining instructional level on the cloze passages also obtained a score indicating their ability to understand the restored passages and transfer from the verbal to non-verbal.

Main

J.>tudq

(Arabic speaking students only). (Easy text readability level: 12+): 47% obtained instructional level on the cloze passage, 40% on restored passage indicated ability to read functionally. (Difficult text readability level: 17, level required for the uni versi ty textbooks): 5~ instructional level on the cloze passage, 2,5% on the restored passage. Comparison with other procedures used .70.

Conclusion: Both the pilot and main study indicated that the procedure could be useful to determine whether the problems students had in reading

scientific and technological material stemmed from basic decoding, the conceptual input of tbe writer(s) or handling tbe interplay of text and diagram.

Further investigations are now underway witb science and technological students in Singapore.

TEACHING EFL STUDENTS TO EXTRACT STRCCTURAL INFORMATION FROM ABSTRACTS

N. l11UJ.eXz

Be/'! f;ruo/'! UrtIve,u.u:y 06 :the. Neqe.v and le.tci1.h The.o£'olj.i.ccU' Sembutlty 1.M.a.e!

Tbe paper discusses techniques for teaching readine to advanced learners of EFL. Tbese techniques are derived both from classroom experience and research into cognitive learning theories and psycholinguistic approaches. It bas been found that FL students have to be taught to recognize and utilize the structure of academic texts in order to extract the important information efficiently and effectively.

In particular, tbe paper examines the possibility of belping students to yredlct tbe structure of journal articles by studying the abstract. The non-professional reader may not utilize tbe abstract for two reasons: 1. the.abstract may be intrinsically difficult to read (e.g. terse style,

redundant features omitted, jargon, etc.); and

2. the student is often unaware of the relationsbip of the abstract to the article and has to be taught to discern this relationship. It is argued that tbe study of abstracts should be integrated into the syllabus of the advanced EFL reading class. Not only do abstracts save the reader valuable time, they provide clues to the organization and content of the article. The abstract can also be used in isolation - as a coherent text - to teach signal words, vocabulary, grammar, etc. Since abstracts are short texts, several of them on the same topic can be used for cross-referential purposes.

The paper describes the nature and function of abstracts in journal articles, then reports an analysis of representative samples of abstracts (both as a cohesive text and in relationship to the article) and finally proposes a rationale for teaching EFL students how to read abstracts .

Ll AND L2 READING STRATEGIES: DISCOURSE LEVEL CONSIDERATIONS

, ',1

P.C. Hauptman

CerWte

6Dfl

Second Langu.age LeaJLning, UnivlVL6ily 06 Ottawa, Ca.nada.

This paper reports on the latest study in a series of studies conducted with bilingual students at the University of Ottawa, a (Engli.h-French)

bilingual institution.

The present paper discusses the results of a study on discourse-level first and second language reading strategies among Francophone and Anglopbone bilingual university students. The general results are as follows;

1. Global cues are generally more difficult than local cues;

2. Francophones seem to have less difficulty with most global cues than do Anglophones in LI reading;

3. L2 students (both Anglophones and Francophones) seem to have rela-tive difficulty with some local cues;

4. Anglophone L2 students appear to have less difficulty with more global cues than Francophones;

5. The present study corroborates previous research suggesting a jum-ping strategy which develops at varying rates and forms in L1 and L2 among Francophones and Anglophones;

6. The research suggests that although there seems to be a correlation between Ll and L2 reading, Ll serves mainly as a ceiling beyond which one will probably not progress in L

2.

VERBAL BEHAVIOR IN DREAMS: NEUROLINGUISTIC IMPLICATIONS FOR LSP READING?

F.

Heynic.k

VepMtme~

06

Appued

UngLLi6.tlcA,

Eindhoven !ln1VeMLtlj

06

Tec.hnology The Neth~

In Freud's (1891) neurolinguistic (pre-psychoanalytic) 'psychological schema for the word concept' (fig.l.) the Bound image nude is indispen-sible for all modes of normal use of the native language. This schema lends itself particularly well to adaptlon to Kraepelin's (1906) descrip-tion of some peculiarities (semantic anomalies, neologi_s, and language mixing) in .ord.alee~loa during hypnagogic dreaming: a high degree of

numbing (for the biological protection of sleep) of Wernicke's area, the seat of word sound images, necessitates to a large extent a new 'strategy', by which word print-images may take over the nodal role between objeet-presen-tation and motor-image (f1g.2.). This strategy would favor the selection during dreaming of foreign words (as opposed to common native ,words) when, in normal waking functioning, their presentations are linked to their respective concepts by print rather than by vocalization. (See the representation in broken lines in lower half of fig.2.). The presumed strategy can however only be effective when, as illustrated, the 9resentatlons of the foreign words in question are not organized as 'translations', i.e. when the direct facilitieA of the foreign word's sound-image,

print-image etc. to the object-presenta-tion are stronger than to the cor-responding images of the equivalent native word. (The part of the upper half of fig.2. drawn in broken lines indicates that the definition

(delimiting) of the ohject-presentation is, to the speaker, often less constrained for foreign words than for native words.)

Relevant specimens of dream utterances are presented from Kraepelin and Freud (1900), as well as from our own experiment corpus {Heynlck 1981, 1982}. lIIore importantly, suggestions are made for testing the validity ot the above organization schemas by eliciting recalled hypnagogic

utterances from professionals involved in foreign language reading (grouped into 'reader-speakers' and reader only') and from students at various levels of fluency, learning by diverse techniques (e.g. bilingual word lists VB. audio-lingual).

Freud, S. (1891),

On

Apha6~. New York: Int.Univ.Press (1953).

Freud, S. (1900)

,The

Int0tp~etation

06

O~eam~. Harmondsworth: Pelican (1976). Heynick, F. (1981), Linguistic aspects of Freud's dream model,

Int.Rev.

P!,tfch. Anal. 8

Heynick, F. (1982), Dream dialogue: beyond 'grammatical competence' to 'pragmatic competence', Ab6~~ct6

6th

Eunop~n Cong~~~

06 Sleep

Re6~ch. Zurich.

Kraepelin, E. (1906), UbM

SpJu:tcMtOJtu.nqen

-Un

TlUmme. Leipzig: Engelmann .

ON THE USE OF INFOru~ANTS IN LSP DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

T. HucJun

aM

L. OlAe.n

Un,ivvu,Utf 06 Ii.iciUgan, Ann Altbo,'t, MiclUgan, USA

Se11nker (1979) raises a crucial issue for the teaching of LSP: namely. how do we teach students to read highly technical LSP discourse that we ourselves have trouble understanding? The answer according to Selinker, is to use technical experts as informants. But the usefulness of this approach both for discourse analysis and pedagogical applications depends heavily on the language researcher's ability to ask the right kinds of questions of the informant. In the study cited above, in which a trained geneticist was used as an informant to help analyse a genetics article, Selinker and his colleagues (mainly ESL teachers) felt that they had in-deed asked the informant the kinds of questions most useful for discourse analysis and pedagogy.

We tested this claim, however, by interviewing the actual author of the genetics article in question. Using him as our own specialist informant, We asked him first to single out the important points of his article and then to evaluate what Selinker et al. seemed to consider the important pOints. The results revealed a number of significant discrepancies between the two versions. In fact, of the nine 'classes of questions' used by Selinker and his group, only two (technical terminology and rhetorical structure) were found to be relevant to an understanding of his article. These findings carry several important implications, including the follo-wing:

1. LSP researchers who use informants should have some familiarity with important conventions and ways of arguing in the field being studied - in this case, an understanding of scientific methodology and of the transitory nature of results in a rapidly-progressing scientific field; and

2. no specialist informant is likely to provide an optimally useful inter-pretation of a text for pedagogical purposes unless the. LSP researcher takes an active and informed role in helping to construct such an inter-pretation.

Selinker, L. (1979), On the use of informants in discourse analysis and 'language for specialized purposes'.

IntennatIcnal

Rev~~~

oS

Apptied

L.ing~tiC6, 17, 189-215.

COOING PROCESSES IN READING ALPHABETIC AND MORPHEMIC SCRIPTS

C.I:.. Leong

UMVeM-Uy 06

Stt!>

iurtehewa.n, Stt!>Ra.tcon, Ca.nada.

This paper discusses the commonality underlying some psychological pro-cesses in "reading apparently disparate symbol systems alphabetic (Eng-lish) and morphemic (Chinese). Contrary to popular belief, Chinese is not read as an ideographic symbol system. Case studies of early reading of Japanese children learning Kanji {Chinese characters} and experimen-tal studies of Chinese subjects reading Chinese all show that there are phonological and visual routes for processing Chinese. Psycholinguistic studies of English show that as a practical orthography the lexical con-tent of a sentence transcribes words morphemically and that in reading English, the analysis of a sentence begins with its lexical content and not with its phonetic representation. Thus the reader of English (and of Chinese) has to exploit the morphophonemic representation in such an orthography. The w ri ter w ill draw on empirical studies to argue for a flexible approach to reading: dual coding (phonological and visual) access to word meaning, interactive mode ('hottom-up' and 'top-down') for different levels of processing. The different coding strategies available to readers vary according to their reading ability, task demand and purposes of reading. The reader is seen as an active information pro-cessor who has the option of sometimes USing the one route, sometimes the other route, in accessing word meaning. Micro and macro processes in reading different writing systems are discussed. Making explicit the tacit knowledge of internal representation is seen as basic to understanding reading processes.

Boae references:

Downing, J.

&

Leong. C.L.,

P&ychotogy 05

~~ng. New York: Macmillan and London: Collier Macmillan, 1982.

Leong, C.K., Anothe~ view of complex and simplified Chinese characters.

JOUltMt 0:1

Chi..ne6e

LinguAAtiC4,

1977, 5, p.342-346.

TESTING READING COMPREHENSION: AN EXAMPLE FROM GERMAN FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES

M. . Lut j ehaJr.JIU,

Vl7.1..je

Un.i.VeMi.tw 8Ju.t6J"el,

Imti.tuut vooJt Taalond€JWJ-LIJ", 8elg.i.um

The paper begins with an introduction on teaching methods and materials for a reading course in German for academic purposes and then concen-trates on the testing of reading skills. The tests are made for Dutch-speaking university students in the humanities.

As teaching methods are contrastive, tests should deal with typical pro-blems for speakers of Dutch when reading academic German. An error ana-lysis of summaries in Ll helped to establish these typical comprehen-sion difficulties. Decoding problems may be caused by interference, but could also be due to difficulties that are connected with the typical structure of German academic texts. Test content emphaSizes these diffi-culties in particular, rather than the diffidiffi-culties in the subject matter. Since we have homogenous groups of testees as far as native

language and educatlonallevel are concerned, this seems a more efficient way to test reading comprehension of a foreign language than the .ore usual items such as reproduction, style, intentions of the author, etc.

Taking the view that comprehension can be tested in a more valid way by using L

l, the test items are in Dutch. This makes it possible to eliminate productive skills and reading of sentences without context in the target language.

Experiments have been carried out, especially on open-ended and multiple choice items to decide on a suitable test procedure. It could be shown that open-ended items discriminate better for most item contents, given the conditions that context is necessary for the right solution. Results for the reliability of the tests and for the discrimination index of the items will only be mentioned in passing, since publica-tions on these aspects will appear shortly. Emphasis will be laid on the choice of texts, content of items, content validity of the test type, relationship between global comprehension andspecif1c comprehen-sion pOints and on the relationship between teaching and test scores .

WORD RECOGNITION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

P. Meatul

VepalLtment:. 06

Applied Li.nguMUco,

B.i.ltkbeck

CoUege,

London

Un.i.veMay

Engtand

When we do experimental work on reading, we often assume that the pro-cess by which words are recognized '1. an lnstantaneous.cme, or at ledt one that is fairly constant, and can thus be safely ignored. This assumption seems to be reasonably well justified for native speakers, but it is not at all clear that we can afford to ignore tbe word recog-nition factor where non-native speakers are concerned.

This paper argues that actual recognition of words in foreign languages is an important source of variance in experimental work on reading in an L₂• 'This variance makes it difficult to interpret the results of such experiments reliably.

The recognition strategies developed by native speakers to handle words in their Ll are often not well-adapted to handling L2 words, particularly if the L2 words have markedly different characteristics from the Ll words. This means that word recognition in an L2 can often take an appreciable length of time. Some experimental data which explores this idea will be reported.