Given the rich bound morphology of Spoken Arabic, an attempt was made here to construct a developmental measure corresponding to the mean length utterance (MLU) in English and to morpheme-per-utterance (MPU) in Hebrew. The adaptation to Arabic resulted in a new measurement termed Arabic-MPU, that was experimentally tested on a sample of 98…

Children with language disorders have particular difficulty with verbs, but when this difficulty emerges is unknown. We examined syntactic (transitive, intransitive, ditransitive) and semantic (manner, result) features of two-year-olds' verb vocabularies, contrasting late talkers and typically developing children to look for early differences in…

Mandarin classifiers are a complex system, but little is known about how Mandarin-speaking children manage to learn the system. Based on the extant literature, we explored potential factors influencing the comprehension and production of Mandarin shape classifiers, including classifier-based semantic categorization and errors pertaining to the…

Canonical babbling is a critical milestone for speech development and is usually well in place by 10 months. The possibility that infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show late onset of canonical babbling has so far eluded evaluation. Rate of vocalization or "volubility" has also been suggested as possibly aberrant in infants with…

Speech and language difficulties can be indicative of other cognitive, social and developmental problems. Tools used in the UK have not (1) targeted two-year-old children, (2) included both parents' reports and independent observations, and (3) simultaneously evaluated expression, understanding and speech. This cross-sectional study of two…

The construction and validation of the Early Language Milestone Scale for children at risk for developmental disability are described. It is concluded that delayed achievement of early language milestones strongly suggests the presence of a significant underlying developmental disability. Journal Availability: See EC 152 486. (Author/SEW)

Decisions based on the Fluharty Preschool Screening Tests and the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test (and their subtests) were compared to a validity criterion of passing or failing the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development for 182 children aged 36-47 months. Validity differences were found that depended on test and subtest content.…

The 115 tests cited in this bibliography are measures for infants through preschool age children, that focus on language acquisition. Some determine developmental level, others deal with aspects of language ability at various levels. Measures for a variety of populations, including native Spanish speakers, and handicapped infants, are cited. This…

Background: Both direct (clinician to child) and indirect (clinician to carer) approaches are currently used in the management of children with language delay, but there is as yet little evidence about their relative effects or resource implications. Aims: This research project compared the Hanen Parent Programme (HPP) in terms of its…