The article looks at syntactic deficiencies involving simple clause structures and grammatical morphology in young children. A framework for understanding the development of simple clause structures is presented followed by a discussion of the correlates of early syntactic development. Procedures to assess and remediate syntactic deficiencies are…

The article examines the child's ability to produce complex sentences with sections on a structural framework for complex language (clausal and nonclausal complexity), a developmental perspective (coordination of clauses, subordination of nominal, adverbial, and relative clauses), and applied considerations (evaluating and teaching complex…

This article reviews different procedures to sample and evaluate a student's spelling skills. Suggestions for further analysis of error patterns in spelling to determine possible causal or maintaining factors, guided by the Spelling Analysis Flowchart, are discussed. By utilizing this hypothesis-driven process, appropriate and effective…

The article examines the social-academic nature of storytelling, reviews studies of narrative ability of learning disabled students, and offers suggestions for developing narratives in the classroom setting. (CL)

The article examines children's requests for clarification (RQCLs) in sections on the development of RQCL behaviors in normally developing children, the use of RQCL behaviors by language-impaired children, evaluation of language-impaired children's use of RQCL behaviors, and facilitation of language impaired children's use of and response to…

The article examines four question-asking practices that prevail in school: maximizing higher level questions, translating identified weaknesses into questions, using questions to create a shared context, and using questions to avoid explicit criticism. (CL)

The role of context in language learning is examined, and an approach for adapting contextual information to language remediation with the mentally retarded is described. The importance of obtaining information about the child's communicative environment and of incorporating the natural setting in the natural environment is stressed. (CL)

Considered are implications for learning disabled students of the simultaneous, successive, and planning (SSP) model, a model of information integration that emphasizes processes rather than ability. Remedial training guidelines are offered, including assessment of learning potential and determination of the nature of the weakness and its…

Confusion is cited regarding the meaning and nature of central auditory dysfunction, and types of tests composing a central auditory test battery are described. Tests focus on auditory closure, auditory figure-ground, and dichotic listening. (CL)

A variety of memory strategies can be used to retrain an individual's ability to process information in working memory. This article provides step-by-step instructions for various memory encoding strategies. These strategies include training in perceptual grouping of number series, organization, mediation, mental imagery, and associative memory.…

This article addresses the special problems of transcribing vowels in the evaluation of speech samples. It reviews the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols and diacritics for transcribing vowels and discusses their importance in the transcription of disordered speech and dialect variation. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

This article reviews conventions for transcribing suprasegmental features in spoken English. It proposes that symbols based on the International Phonetic Alphabet and its recent extensions be supplemented, in the area of intonation, by selected tonetic stress marks and examples of the autosegmental notation used in the Tone and Break Indices…

This article reviews major approaches to the transcription of disordered speech using the International Alphabet (IPA). Application of selected symbols for transcribing non-English sounds is highlighted in clinical examples, as are commonly used diacritic symbols. Included is an overview of the IPA extensions for transcription of atypical speech,…

The author reviews methods of studying individuals in context (ecological, phenomenological, and system approaches) and offers suggestions for implementing these approaches in identification, assessment, and intervention procedures for language-disordered children. (CL)

The article reviews the development of action words in the language of young children, provides a rationale and basis for the choice of action forms to include in an early vocabulary, and suggests strategies for facilitating action-word development in language impaired and normal children. (DB)