Language complexity

Abstract: 1 A Linguistic Axiom Challenged 2 How Much grammar Does it Take to Sail a Boat? 3 On the Evolution of Complexity - Sometimes Less is More in East and Mainland Southeast Asia 4 Testing the Assumption of Complexity Invariance: The Case of Elfdalian and Swedish 5 Between Simplification and Complexification: Non-standard Varieties of English Around the World 6 Implicational Hierarchies and Grammatical Complexity 7 Sociolinguistic Typology and Complexification 8 Linguistic Complexity: A Comprehensive Definition and Survey 9 Complexity in Core Argument Marking and Population Size 10 Oh noo!: A Bewilderingly Multifunctional Saramaccan Word Teaches us How a Creole Language Develops Complexity 11 Orality Versus Literacy as a Dimension of Complexity 12 Individual Differences in Processing complex Grammatical Structures 13 Origin and Maintenance of Clausal Embedding Complexity 14 Layering of Grammar: Vestiges of Protosyntax in Present-day Languages 15 An Interview With Dan Everett 16 Universals in Language or Cognition? Evidence from English Languae Acquisition and from Piraha 17 "Overall Complexity" - a Wild Goose Chase? 18 An Efficiency Theory of Complexity and Related Phenomena 19 Envoi References Index

Abstract: complexity of the text and the cultural origin of the story affected comprehension. The native language readers were better able to understand unadapted English and the story based on American folklore. Implications of this study for teaching and for materials selection and design are discussed. The effects of the language complexity and the culturally determined background of a text on reading comprehension have always been recognized as elements of concern in the selection of reading materials for foreign language learners and in the evaluation of their reading comprehension. Research with native language readers has shown that the amount of language complexity has less effect on reading comprehension than the organization of ideas in the passage. Schlesinger (1968) found that the length and structure of English sentences had no effect on comprehension of readers who tended to use lexical meanings to understand the sentences. Meyer's work (1975) showed that organization in English prose influenced what idea units were recalled from a passage by native language readers, but there were no significant differences between recall of units with and without the presence of linguistic cues. In their discussions of the problems in reading comprehension of ESL

Abstract: The Elementary School Journal Volume 85, Number 5 ? 1985 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0013-5984/85/8505-0006$01.00 Educators recognize that young children who have stories read to them develop more sophisticated language structures, accumulate more background information, and have more interest in learning to read (Bower 1976; Chomsky 1972; Cohen 1968; Durkin 1966). In addition, active participation in literary experiences enhances the development of comprehension, oral language, and a sense of story structure (Blank & Sheldon 1971; Bower 1976). For example, Brown's research (1975) suggests that children's story comprehension is facilitated when they are involved actively in the reconstruction of a story. She defines reconstruction as children's thinking about the individual story events and arranging pictures of the story in sequential order. By mentally reconstructing the events themselves and arranging pictures, children build an internal representation of the story. In another study, Pellegrini and Galda tested the effects of varying modes of active involvement in story reconstruction on comprehension. Role playing significantly improved comprehension of story and story retelling ability. According to Pellegrini and Galda, when role playing stories, active involvement and peer interaction contributed to the children's increased performance.