In everyday life, children hear but also often see their caregiver talking. Children build on this correspondence to resolve auditory uncertainties and decipher words from the speech input. As they hear the name of an object, 18- to 30-month-olds form a representation that permits word recognition in either the auditory (i.e. acoustic form of the…

This study considered the songs currently in use in Gaelic groups for 0-3 year olds in Scotland, whilst investigating how practitioners use them in the groups. In this article, I argue that Gaelic Early Years practitioners insufficiently understand the potential of song in relation to Gaelic language acquisition with young children and their…

From the very first moments of their lives, infants selectively attend to the visible orofacial movements of their social partners and apply their exquisite speech perception skills to the service of lexical learning. Here we explore how early bilingual experience modulates children's ability to use visible speech as they form new lexical…

EFL learners at all ages and proficiency levels are usually confronted with various problems in vocabulary learning and retention. This study sought to introduce strategies for improvement of vocabulary learning and retention. Therefore, the effects of using aural/visual storytelling on Iranian EFL learners' vocabulary learning and retention were…

As a means of communication, listening plays an important role in people's life. In a foreign language classroom, listening comprehension has never drawn the same attention of educators as it now does. So it is a vital importance to teach aural English more effectively. In view of present situation of aural English teaching and wrong ideas about…

Listening comprehension has had a long and ever-evolving history. Within the last 100 years, we have seen it progress from analog phonograph recordings, through the audiotape era, and into the digital realm. Questions arise as to how this evolution has proceeded, what pitfalls and accomplishments we have experienced, and where we might envision…

Three studies examined 2-year-olds' ability to learn novel words when overhearing these words used by others. Found that children ages 2.5 years were equally good at learning novel object labels and action verbs when they were overhearers as when they were directly addressed. For younger 2-year-olds, this was true for object labels, but results…

A good listening climate, reciprocal planning for oral and aural comprehension, analysis of the purpose and method in which the task is executed, will all provide some beginning points for the serious teacher who wants to build listening comprehension on the strengths of skills operating since birth. (Author/NQ)

Analysis (using semantic scoring criteria) indicated that: (1) self-action yielded higher scores on recall; and (2) girls scored significantly higher than boys. When absolute and syntactic criteria were used, self-action, puppet-action, and color, paste, and cut actions were equally facilitative. (Author)

Preschoolers were assigned to experimental and control groups to investigate whether they could learn novel words when viewing television and whether the learning was influenced by age or type of word. (PCB)

The article reviews existing clinical tests of speech perception, describes behaviorally defined procedures for assessing the skill in normal and language disordered children, and notes the need for a more cohesive framework for the development of speech perception. (CL)

Eighty college students with learning disabilities were evaluated via intelligence tests and auditory language tests. In the 63 students with auditory language problems, persistent problems were discovered in discrimination, comprehension, memory, retrieval, sequencing, syntax, formulation, and articulation. The major area of language problems was…

A one-way analysis of variance was used to assess the effects of imposed (picture) and induced (play) imagery on the aural language comprehension of 80 kindergarten children who were randomly assigned to two treatment and two control conditions. No significant differences in recall were found. (Author/JD)

This 25-item test is intended to help educators identify whether students process language primarily through auditory, visual, or kinesthetic means. In the first five sections of this 9-minute test, students are instructed to read five 3-paragraph sets and select the paragraph in each set that is easiest for them to read. In questions 6 through 15…

After a brief discussion of the difficulties Spanish-speaking children encounter when learning to speak and read English, the authors offer suggestions for curriculum changes and methods of teaching oral English that would facilitate learning for these children. (TO)