This speech, presented at the 1977 meeting of the World Organization of Preschool Education (OMEP), proposes that the preschool linguistic environment determines language facility, which affects later school and work success. The normal course of communicative ability is traced. It is proposed that although most children, in and out of preschool,…

Although the relationship between language and intellectual development in children is often ambiguous, language retardation appears to be one of the main ways that a disadvantaged environment hinders achievement. While American research has indicated that nursery education may effectively extend language experience, few studies have been done in…