Children with language disorders experience problems in three dimensions of semantics: (1) content of content (reference, referents, concepts); (2) form of content (structural units of meaning); (3) use of content (functional variation in meaning). Teacher intervention strategies in each area (e.g., for problems of reference, sentence meaning,…

Discusses recent brain research as it pertains to reading instruction. (DD)

Presents examples of syntactic structures that may confuse children when reading. Suggests ways in which teachers can help overcome problems presented by these structures. (FL)

Summarizes role of language deficiencies in reading disability, focusing on two areas that appear critical to reading skill: language processing abilities and the awareness of phonological structure. Shows distinguishing characteristics of disabled readers to be consistent with theoretical and experimental findings about skilled reading, and to…

Reviews three sorts of converging evidence regarding dyslexic children's phonological processing difficulties: data from studies of spoken language impairments in dyslexic readers, evidence from the analysis of dyslexic reading and spelling skills, and evidence of phonological deficits that vary in severity and extent across the life-span in…

Fourth grade students' miscues occurring in signaled sentence combining exercises were compared with their reading miscues in a study relating cognitive style to miscue analysis of reading and writing. The records of 16 students were used, with reflective students and impulsive students so designated on the basis of their miscues per one-hundred…

Reviews research pertaining to metalinguistic awareness in young children; examines issues related to the direction of cause between metalinguistic abilities and reading, disparities in research methodology between studies, and commercial instruments perporting to measure metalinguistic knowledge; and offers implications for reading instruction…

Examines the role of suprasegmental phonology in speech processing and its implications for reading instruction; also reviews evidence for the hypothesis that prosodic features cue the boundaries of perceptually functional units in spoken sentences, thus assisting the listener in the segmentation of verbal information. (FL)

Looks at research and practice in the area of idioms and offers suggestions for teaching them effectively. (FL)

This introductory article discusses following articles that consider how phonology interacts with other aspects of language and language learning and the role of this interaction in language acquisition. It addresses the interaction between phonology and the lexicon, phonological representations and morphophonemic alternations, and the interaction…

Discusses story grammar and story schema. Demonstrates how two schema-based strategies--semantic webbing and the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity--can aid in improving comprehension. (FL)

Examines Piagetian theory in relation to (1) the organizational framework of the reader, (2) the linkage of development and reading, (3) the interrelatedness of language processes, and (4) the twin influences of maturation and experience. Notes the value of Piagetian theory in building reading models and examines two "hurdles" it…

A review of studies investigating the effects of bilingualism on the cognitive and academic performance of language-minority students indicates both negative and positive effects. Compared with monolingual students, differences favoring bilingual students are found in studies utilizing Piagetian measures, which are not heavily language dependent.…

A paper dealing with the comprehension of metaphor and a second paper addressing the ramifications of the first paper's ideas for teaching practices are contained in this report. The opening section of the first paper explains why language theorists and scholars in a number of disciplines are interested in metaphor. Its next section deals with…

Surveys recent research in language acquisition, emphasizing the views of M. A. K. Halliday. (RL)