Research Findings: The present study investigates both the proximal processes and contextual influences on children's oral language development in preschool. We examine whether teacher language practices vary across activity settings and program type, which teacher language practices predict children's oral language skills, and potential…

This paper investigates informal learning, literacy and language development occurring in the home through exchanges between children of three to six years of age and their grandparents in Sylheti/Bengali-speaking families of Bangladeshi origin and monolingual English-speaking families of mixed ethnicity living in east London. A survey identifying…

This manual is designed to help parents facilitate their children's language development. It is divided into five sections based on different levels of language development that extend from children's early use of sounds to their production of four and five word sentences. Each section contains a brief general description of children's speech and…

Presents examples of young children using written language. Shows teachers and parents what they can learn from children's developing sense of written language. Suggests activities by which parents and teachers can spur child language development. (RL)

Based upon the view that parents, home visitors, and teachers in early childhood settings need tools for empowering young children to develop language, this paper examines what adults need to know to guide young children's language development and presents 20 suggestions for enhancing language growth. The paper maintains that adults need to know…

Examines children's acquisition of language meaning through their use of homophony, riddles, and other word play. Discusses ways to encourage the study of meaning, using classroom techniques such as finding metaphorical relations among words and phrases, learning word origins, or studying naming strategies of other cultures. (HTH)

Examines materials in the ERIC system related to children's early oral language and the transition from home language to the more formal language used in school. Offers activities for a classroom climate that is responsive to children's oral language development needs. (HTH)

Describes ERIC resources that present research on children's language usage and development and that suggest activities for the promotion of language development. (ET)

Designed to accompany a slide and tape package, this booklet outlines the role parents can take in children's language development. Following an introduction which familiarizes parents with the concepts of receptive language (comprehension of spoken language) and expressive language (the information a person is trying to communicate and the form…

This collection of exercises, intended principally for parents and teachers engaged in early childhood education, contains 30 pages of exercises designed to foster speech and vocabulary development of young children. Although the book is primarily intended for use with native speakers of French, the exercises would be useful for elementary school…

The first section of this paper discusses recent writing research and the basic elements of language development. The second section describes a program which used a sentence-combining method as an activity-based experience for language development. A six-month study involved all fourth graders at Powell School in Mountain View, California. The…

Based on the premise that children learn language best in daily playful interactions with people, this guide for parents and professionals was designed to assist them in working with a child who is beginning to talk or who is not using language very much in their social and learning lives, especially with children with disabilities. The bulk of…

This document contains a variety of activities concerned with language development at the elementary level. There are thirteen sections. Section one is a general discussion of the goals of language development. Sections two through twelve list activities covering such topics as how to use various media (cameras, tape recorders, etc.), how to use…

This guide is comprised of activities designed to assist parents in facilitating the language development of typically developing children or children with communication problems, to assist teachers and child care providers in effectively communicating with preverbal children, and to assist speech/language professionals in including preverbal…

Discusses a model for teaching reading and writing in which skilled language users provide support for new language activities in context. Gives examples of typical classroom activities that provide too little or too much support for natural language growth and of activities with a balanced instructional "scaffolding." (HTH)