This paper examines the acquisition of demonstratives (e.g., "that," "there") from a cross-linguistic perspective. Although demonstratives are often said to play a crucial role in L1 acquisition, there is little systematic research on this topic. Using extensive corpus data of spontaneous child speech, the paper investigates…

The present study examined children's co-construction of shared meanings and internal state language during play with their sibling and friend from early to middle childhood. Sixty-five 4-year-old children (T1) and 46 7-year-old children (T2) were observed in the home during two free play sessions with a sibling and with a friend at both time…

Children with developmental disabilities (DD) may experience delays in their ability to speak and communicate with their parents, peers, and others. These children often benefit from evidence-based, parent-implemented communication interventions. In the current study, two mothers were trained and coached to use storybook reading techniques and…

Both of these toddlers struggle with communication. Parents and practitioners working with very young children often struggle to find ways to enhance their toddlers' communication skills. They may question: When do I teach? What should I teach? Where do I teach? How do I teach? This article will provide suggestions and techniques to support the…

Many young children spend a significant amount of time each day in preschool settings. It is important to understand how teachers create and maximize opportunities for children's social and emotional learning (SEL) in the classrooms. This research was conducted in Singapore and explores how SEL is supported by teachers in areas identified in the…

This article describes the implementation and benefits of a photo-based family communication method called Daily Explorations. Daily Explorations are one- to two-page photo collages that are annotated with meaningful explanations of children's play and e-mailed to parents every day. The process, described in more detail in this article, is a…

Speakers of all ages spontaneously gesture as they talk. These gestures predict children's milestones in vocabulary and sentence structure. We ask whether gesture serves a similar role in the development of narrative skill. Children were asked to retell a story conveyed in a wordless cartoon at age five and then again at six, seven, and eight.…

This article elucidates the unfolding of 3 phases of cognitive development through which typical children move during the first 2 years of life to illuminate the interrelationships among early cognition, communicative intention, and word-learning strategies. The resulting theoretical framework makes clear the developmental prerequisites for social…

This paper investigates the implementation and outcomes of "Growing Better Beginnings": a family literacy program for four and five year olds. The program builds on "Better Beginnings: Birth to Three" launched in 2005. Parents, teachers and librarians were surveyed and interviewed to ascertain their perceptions of the program.…

Baby sign language is advocated to improve children's communication development. However, the evidence to support the advantages of baby sign has been inconclusive. A systematic review was undertaken to summarize and appraise the research related to the effectiveness of symbolic gestures for typically developing, hearing infants with hearing…

Conversational repairs are an important pragmatic language skill. We identified types of responses to requests for clarification and their frequencies in typically developing 4;0-6;0-year-old Jordanian children. This study was motivated by the fact that there are no Arabic data regarding this issue and by the limited range of forms of requests for…

Parents play an essential role in the development of children's sexuality, yet often feel uncomfortable and anxious about how best to communicate with their children about sexual matters. This study had three main aims: (1) to examine parental views and confidence in relation to communicating with their child about sexuality; (2) to explore…

Communication partners who efficiently use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are essential interaction partners for children learning to communicate using AAC. This systematic review examines studies targeting interventions designed to help communication partners support children with complex communication needs who use AAC.…

The normal developmental challenges experienced during early childhood as well as more significant emotional and behavioral problems require that parents and caregivers communicate effectively. The manner in which parents and caregivers communicate with each other about children's behavior can have a significant and lasting impact on children,…

We investigated longitudinally the co-constructed narratives of 31 mother-child dyads collected when the children were 3-, 4-, and 5-years old, examining the dual development of child conversational and narrative discourse skills and the impact of maternal verbal assistance. Linear mixed-model analysis revealed that children's developmental…