Examines the Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES), its organizational form, and its three major tools: (1) the CHILDES database of transcripts, (2) the CHAT system for transcribing and coding data, and (3) the CLAN programs for analyzing CHAT files. (GLR)

A review of research on language handicapped, disadvantaged, and other children, indicates that incidental language teaching (natural unstructured interactions between adults and children and which allow adults to transmit new information and give children practice in developing communication skills) is a promising language intervention technique…

The paper describes the theoretical shift that has taken place in speech-language pathology as a result of the focus on the pragmatic aspects of language. This shift is placed in the philosophical perspective of American pragmatism. (Author)

Reviews the methodological issues raised by previous research into the language used by thought-disordered and nondisordered schizophrenics. (FL)

Described are the history of the study of language disabilities, briefly outlining the work of Samuel Orton, Judson Herrick, Adolph Meyer, and Paul Schilder; Lauretta Bender's development of the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test; and the basic principles of language disorders, including familial patterns, maturation lag, plasticity, and nonfixated…

The question of whether the exclusive use of spoken English (i.e., oralism) causes brain atrophy for the hearing impaired child is examined in light of data presented by R. Conrad and other researchers. It is concluded that deafness itself is the fundamental cause of performance deficits. (SEW)

Discusses the assessment of children's early language comprehension by the use of (1) parent reports; (2) preferential-looking models; and (3) event-related brain potentials. Examines recent findings on dissociations between language comprehension and production in normal, late-talking, and brain-injured children and considers the implications of…

Idioglossia is a private communication system, most commonly occurring in twins. It also occurs between singletons and between other siblings of multiple births. These communication systems range from manual gestures to a fully developed vocal language with its own grammar. The literature of idioglossia is scanty and largely anecdotal. Much of the…

Linguistic and cognitive assessment of children whose home language is not English involves a number of complex issues: minority labeling, the relationship between cognition and bilingualism, "normal" data on bilingual development, and monolingual versus bilingual environment for children experiencing delay. This paper concentrates on reviewing…

The views of proponents and opponents of the language deficit theory--the theory that nonstandard dialect is a deficient form of language--are presented in this paper. Following a description of the work of Basil Bernstein, a British educator who is considered the key figure among proponents of the theory, the paper presents an overview of the…

The purpose of this book is to bring together essays--first published in the "Harvard Educational Review"--that identify and explicate critical issues and positions on language and reading, examine many educational and political problems arising from these issues, and illuminate the historical and philosophical developments that have made literacy…