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,…

Past studies of autistic children's memory for linguistic materials have shown that autistics have a special linguistic coding difficulty. Because the autistic deficit stems from a failure to use semantic and syntactic knowledge or from a failure to acquire such forms, future research should explore the mechanics underlying this deficit. (PJM)

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…

Attempts to demonstrate that specifically language-impaired (SLI) children can be viewed as normal learners faced with systematically altered input. By assuming SLI children are limited in their ability to perceive and hypothesize grammatical morphemes that are low in phonetic substance, many features of SLI children's language can be explained by…

Verbal analogical reasoning tasks are described as potentially valuable in the assessment and management of subtle linguistic defects less easily detected by standardized language tests. Semantic and structural factors that should be considered in the development of verbal analogies as test items are cited, as well as adaptations for nonreaders.…

Discusses the language development in individuals with Down's syndrome in both early childhood and adulthood, and outlines intervention programs to assist language development in these individuals not only in their early years but throughout their lives. (71 references) (CFM)

This article takes a functional approach to relationships between make-believe play and language development. It is argued that play and early literacy share similarities of function and social context, and therefore both prepare children for similar symbol-using processes. Transformation from oral language to literacy and implications for…

This article discusses the concept of world knowledge and its relevance to intervention processes. Roles of linguistic and physical context in interpretation and levels of speaker experience are discussed. Levels of involvement are related to communication goals, and these principles are extended to applications in the teaching of language skills.…

This article focuses on development, elaboration, and measurement of word repertoire from world knowledge, as well as factors affecting the word-learning process and vocabulary assessment and remediation methods such as definition and association tasks. Several alternatives for vocabulary expansion based on world knowledge principles are also…

This article relates the ability to understand individual sentences both in and out of context by normal and developmentally delayed children at various developmental stages to the concept of world knowledge. Implications for assessment and treatment of sentence comprehension deficits among language-disordered students are discussed. (PB)