The written compositions of 11-year-olds in Great Britain's National Child Development Study were analyzed using the T-unit length as a measure of syntactic maturity and composition length as a measure of productivity. Results are discussed in relation to cognitive and linguistic development. (Author/RM)

To determine teachers' attitudes (and reasons for these attitudes) toward the language of children in their schools, 33 teachers in selected infant and junior schools in England and a similar number in the United States representing a cross-section of schools and geographic areas in the two countries were interviewed. More than 90 percent of the…

Evaluates a teaching program called TRAC (Talk, Reasoning, and Computers) that is used for scaffolding children's effective use of language as a tool for reasoning and collaborative activity. Finds that using the TRAC program can increase the amount of exploratory talk used by children working together in the classroom. (CMK)

This paper first considers the inadequacy of definitions of dialect speech that are too rigid. Some of the ways in which dialect can influence the performance of children in school are discussed, and the notion that dialect is an indication of linguistic deficit is also considered. In the last part of the paper, the attitude of the Schools Council…

Discusses multilingual resources for children--books in languages other than English as well as dual language books written in both heritage languages and English for immigrants. Focuses on the challenges dual language books present for translators, emphasizing that publishers' insensitivity has often resulted in inadequate translations. (10…

Metalinguistic awareness is discussed in terms of the new national curriculum in English language education in Great Britain. A chronology is presented of events surrounding national curriculum legislation that prompted controversy in Britain concerning the teaching of the English language. One result of this legislation has been the creation of…

Analyzes discourse practices in British urban primary schools providing marginal bilingual support to immigrant minority-group students as a means to facilitate their social transition to school and eventual access to an English-medium education. The article describes teaching strategies in two classrooms implementing the bilingual approach.…

A course in child development offered at a British secondary school focused on language development. The primary objective was to sharpen college students' awareness of the language development of children they meet in their everyday lives and children they study during the course. The teacher's role is to extract linguistic theory from the…

The vocabularies of five- to eight-year-old blind children were sampled to help develop a graded series of braille reading books. Lists of words in alphabetic and frequency order are presented. (See TM 504 595 for availability). (Author/CTM)

Reports on an action research study to determine the possibilities of extending language development opportunities for 26 male 4 to 5-year-old students. Describes teaching methods used, including story telling, questioning, and drama. Explores issues that emerged during the study and evaluates teacher behavior. (CFR)

This review is intended to expand on the issues of: (1) the cultural and linguistic identity of children of minority groups in Britain, and (2) the teaching of English to these children. The review relates these issues to the broader questions of policy in the education of minority group children and highlights some areas where research is needed.…