Systematic reviews are important as a key source of information for commissioners and for developing practice in speech and language therapy (SLT) and early years. Interventions in this field are often complex and are delivered in community settings. This paper applies a systematic review of environmental interventions in early years for children…

With early diagnosis and intervention, students with language delays can succeed. This paper presents warning signs and recommends seeking expert help, explaining that supporting such children involves such things as reading to them, using simple but grammatically correct sentences, and following their lead. A sidebar notes areas that may be…

Designed to grade children's knowledge of commonly used instructional terms in a particular language arts program, the AIT consists of a verbal part and a situational part. Each part assesses the same commonly used instructional terms: word, begin, letter, name, makes sense, beginning sounds, print, trace, capital letter, rhyme, period, stands…

Provides a look at primary grade children's abilities, inabilities, and requirements to use phonics as a beginning reading strategy and suggests a model that facilitates children's application of phonics while reading. (FL)

Describes the interrelationship of reading and writing and proposes a full-school program for reading and writing development that builds on the full range of personal use of written language. (JL)

The study investigated the effectiveness of a pragmatic language function protocol with a sample of 240 normal preschool children, aged 2-5, in a structured setting. The protocol was shown to be used reliably and was sensitive to differences in the mastery of language skills of normal children of different ages. (Author/JDD)

Intended for teachers in Tasmania, this booklet focuses on guidelines for developing a language program for young children. Chapters are entitled: How Language Competence Grows; Language, Thought and Feelings Are Independent; The Child's Language Development Depends on Our Responses; and Growth of Understanding. The philosophy presented in the…

Children begin school with some very basic ideas about written language and reading. The first is that of sign and message. That a graphic representation, a "sign," conveys meaning is an early and easy concept for children that stems from their visually attending to print in their environment. The realization that spoken language can be…

Examples of writers' workshops and ways to implement them for children's second-language learning are described in this handbook for teachers. Writers' workshops are important structured classroom events that provide children with opportunities to demonstrate their facility as writers. The theory behind writers' workshops is that children…

Discusses a model for teaching reading and writing in which skilled language users provide support for new language activities in context. Gives examples of typical classroom activities that provide too little or too much support for natural language growth and of activities with a balanced instructional "scaffolding." (HTH)

Intended for teachers in Tasminia, this book focuses on the school setting as a place that supports children as language users. The booklet suggests that when setting out to develop a language program teachers need a knowledge of the relationship between child development and language acquisition; an understanding of how the organization of the…

Intended for teachers in Tasmania, this booklet discusses the role of parents and the home in language development as an integral and important part of a school's language program. The booklet suggests that schools need to determine the best way to communicate to parents: how important parents are to the early development of children's language;…

The English-as-a-second-language teacher's role is explored, with five specific areas of responsibility elaborated: (1) providing comprehensible input; (2) preparing learners to cope with nonclassroom language; (3) providing references and resource materials; (4) providing focused instruction in particular areas of language; and (5) providing…

Techniques to assess the vision, hearing, and speech and language of multihandicapped children are briefly described. Interferences in normal vision functioning and development during infancy can be identified and intervention initiated early in the child's life. Obtaining an in-depth history from the parents is the first step. It is essential…

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication instruction to classroom practice, this booklet describes several classroom-based studies that have examined children's writing development and synthesizes what they have shown about the process. The first section of the booklet analyzes the term "writing…