It has been stated that the study of aphasia tells us little or nothing about normal language. On the other hand, it is commonplace to consider that slips of the tongue do. In this paper I show that many kinds of aphasic errors demonstrate precisely what slips in normals do. Consequently, it is not unreasonable to consider that the study of aphasia can indeed shed light on normal language processes as well as aphasic processes and can be handled in a framework designed to account for slips of the tongue in normal speakers. Similar “editing” mechanisms are needed for explaining the structure of errors produced by both aphasics and normals. Finally, it is suggested that this approach can help us further understand what is not abnormal in aphasia in general, as well as highlight the ways in which distinct types of aphasic “slips” can characterize different syndromes. Consequently, we will have gained additional information regarding the nature of aphasia itself.

This study examined the communicative behavior of mildly retarded adults engaged in conversation with peers. Contemporary models of pragmatic interaction were applied to samples of triadic naturally occurring conversation. The subjects made few errors in turn-taking; moreover, the rule system involved was consistent with that posited for nonretarded adults. They recognized those illocutionary acts that obligated them to respond as well as the specific responses required. That they were actively involved in information exchange was indicated by the observation that the majority of their turns were responses to the preceding turns of others, even when under no obligation to respond. Individual differences on most measures were observed, and the measures appeared related to each other, but not to IQ. Unexpectedly, the subjects produced few indirect speech acts.

The various descriptions of schizophrenic language have concentrated on a structural treatment of the schizophrenic's spoken or written language or an elucidation of the relationship between linguistic and cognitive disturbances. The structural treatments in fact often focus on the content of schizophrenic discourse, e.g. circumstantiality, flight of ideas, etc., rather than on grammatical structure. In this paper, the linguistic performance of a chronic schizophrenic, paranoid type (DSM-II:295.3) is examined via a large corpus of continuous spoken and written narrative texts collected over a three-year period. A striking agreement was noted in the oral and written language of this subject in features such as the types of agrammatic errors which occur and extreme perseveration. The data reveal important differences with the six characteristics of schizophrenic language noted by Chaika (1974). A brief comparison is made with aphasic and similar neurolinguistic disturbances suggesting organicity in the present case.

The purpose of the study was to investigate individual differences in French language achievement in a group of grade 1 anglophone students attending a total early immersion program. A number of different predictor factors were used to predict achievement in French language arts, listening comprehension and oral production; achievement in English reading was also assessed. The predictor factors included indices of the students' attitudes, personality traits, non-verbal reasoning ability, degree of field independence and school-related behavior. Multiple regression techniques were used to analyze the associations between the predictor factors and the results of the achievement tests.

Teachers' ratings of the students' behavior along with the cognitive factors of field independence and non-verbal reasoning ability were found to be positively correlated with achievement in French language arts and listening comprehension. The cognitive factors were also found to correlate positively with achievement levels in English reading. No significant predictors emerged in the case of oral production. The findings are discussed further in terms of their pedagogical implications.

In Study 1, writing samples from secondary and post-secondary students were used to examine the underlying structures of 16 indices of syntactic complexity known to be related to good writing. Factor analysis revealed six syntactic dimensions: unbound description, coordination, unbound description-final position, embedding, elongation, and prepositions. Subscales were constructed to assess each dimension. The purpose of Study 2 was to examine correlations among the six syntactic dimensions and three measures of cognitive style: field-embeddedness, category width, and perceptual accuracy. A coincidence of significant correlations between nearly all of the syntactic subscales and measures of both field-independence and reflectivity indicated an association between syntactic complexity and an analytic cognitive style. Preferred styles of organization applied to verbal and to visual stimuli alike. The ability to analytically perceive spatial relationships is clearly associated with the ability to manipulate language effectively.