An experimental study investigating the interaction of linguistic complexity and performance in child language acquisition tests the hypothesis that children learning a first language acquire relatively complex sentences somewhat later than less complex sentences. In one of three tests, the subjects, 44 children aged 3.6 to 6 years, were presented…

Notes that traditional methods of teaching vocabulary development do not reflect the learning patterns of basic writing students. Suggests ways of modifying vocabulary instruction to help remedial students. (RL)

A study compares and contrasts a set of English and Spanish prepositions of location in the context of prototype theory. It seeks to establish the prototype concept of each preposition and the degrees of prototypicality by testing for native-speaker choices of examples that illustrate best the most basic use of the preposition. The prepositions…

According to recent neurolinguistic theories and research, language and other analytic functions are located on the left side of the brain, while spatial and configurational abilities are located on the right side. However, there is some evidence that while learning a language requires the use of both hemispheres of the brain, the right hemisphere…

Language research over the past two decades has revealed that language is not something children "acquire," but rather a system they build. A key factor in this linguistic construction is children's interaction with parents or other caregivers. The studies reveal further that children's repeated interactions with books and stories and…

Presented is an experiment investigating children's awareness of regularities in physical phenomena and their capacity for expressing these regularities. Hypothesized and confirmed is that children can use statements with the form and purpose of a physical law. Cartoons related to Archimedes' principle (and connected gravitation and fluid…

A study among college students investigated the effects on the developing knowledge system of the second-language learner of two different types of instruction: instruction as manipulation of output, and as structured or focused input processing. Results support the input-processing perspective and the salience of the role of input. (43…

In recent characterizations of reading and writing, the distinctions melt into each other so that one definition serves for both: both are the creation of meaning. In the act of creating meaning, readers become writers and writers become readers. While reading is primarily receptive and writing is primarily productive, fluency in reading is very…

Theories of human cognition and language suggest that there is a gap between the phases of perception and the phases of production of language. Unfortunately, this is often forgotten in language teaching, so that beginners' courses too frequently contain simplified and non-authentic linguistic input to assure that output does not lag too far…

A French professor teaching in Australia, and learning to cope with the distinctive features of Australian English, reflects on second-language learning processes and their implications for language teaching. Topics discussed include verbal versus nonverbal communication, authentic language situations, cultural context, developing…

Taken from the book "The Language of Primary School Children," this essay is an example of the dialogue among teachers in England about language and writing. The essay gives priority to the discussion of actual material produced in primary schools and highlights the most promising ways in which language was seen to play a vital part in…

Focusing on talk as the vehicle through which the reading and writing processes can become more interactive and can more closely approach the processes of learning, the lessons presented in this booklet provide examples of how teachers can construct learning strategies to help children "talk their way into meaning" against a framework of…

Reexamines the question of why pattern practice fails by hypothesizing about the information processing activities that they entail. (Author/CFM)

This digest presents an overview of children with auditory processing disorders (APDs), children who can typically hear information but have difficulty attending to, storing, locating, retrieving, and/or clarifying that information to make it useful for academic and social purposes. The digest begins by describing central auditory processing and…

Reviews a monograph which addresses children's higher-order thinking skills. Suggests the following for teaching problem solving: identify and develop content-independent and content-dependent problem-solving skills, connect developed skills through workshop-style activities to subject discipline, and help students identify and reconstruct their…