Discusses the current approaches to interlanguage syntax, focusing on the goal of finding consistency and pattern in syntactic variation. Some themes contributing to descriptive approaches include: the transition from morphosyntax acquisition studies to those of more complex syntax, the emergence of syntax from discourse, explicitness, and the…

Expands on study by Brown and Hanlon which showed that parents seemed more attuned to semantic value of their child's speech rather than grammatical form. However, this more recent study suggests that language learning environment presents subtle cues, distinguishing between well-formed and ill-formed sentences, evidenced by mothers' inclinations…

Investigates expression of part-whole semantic relation by children 3 to 12 years old and indicates that older children prefer its use significantly more often. The part-whole semantic relation was also observed to take several linguistic forms, such as partitive, spatial, and possessive. Age, experimental task format, or type of experimental…

A study tested the hypothesis that manual encoding aids learning in the prelingually deaf. Twenty-four adults who used fingerspelling as their primary means of communication participated in two groups of a paired-associate learning paradigm, using eight study-test trial sequences. Those using fingerspelling showed more recall and a faster learning…

Two tasks were used to assess the capacities of 6- to 14-year-old children to interpret metaphoric statements. Results suggest certain cognitive prerequisites of mature metaphoric comprehension and help to clarify the ontogenetic relations among the abilities to produce, comprehend, and explicate the rationale of metaphoric language. (Author/SB)

Arguing that evolution designed us to both teach and learn, this book explains how, and how much, babies and young children know and learn, and how much parents naturally teach them. The chapters are: (1) "Ancient Questions and a Young Science," including the concept of brain as computer, and the developmental science of Piaget and…

Mental ability, language development (English), language development (Spanish), and self-image changes were studied as effects of an early intervention program for preschool children. (Authors/JA)

Assesses the relative importance of synonymity and antonymity for memory encoding of words for second and sixth graders. Also, the variable of association strength is investigated for both groups through the presentation of false-recognition stimuli. (DP)

Authors interpret the evidence from the three experiments to mean that highly cognitively structured small-group activities have positive effects upon cognitive development, at least for a relatively short period of time. (Authors)

Five-to nine-year-olds engage in an after school program designed to develop their cognitive skills. (AJ)

Examines the spontaneous language of deaf children without forcing the analysis to fit the features of a spoken language system. Suggests linguistic competence of deaf children is commensurate with their cognitive age and is not adequately described by the standard spoken English language tests. (EKN)

Examines the communicative functions served by the lexical usage of normal and language impaired children whose speech was limited to single word utterances. (EKN)