This paper examined the growth of religious questioning in children which does not have the presuppositions of any established religious system such as Christianity and noted the need for research into the internalization of the culturally accepted system. (Author/RK)

Infant reaction to adult speech was studied through frame-by-frame analysis of sound films. Infants' actions were found to be synchronized with the organized speech behavior of the adults in his environment. (ST)

The Stanford-Binet intelligence test was administered by 104 third- and sixth-grade, disadvantaged black children in Negro non-standard dialect and in standard English. Younger children performed better than older children. No significant differences were found between dialect and standard-English test administrations. (ST)

An exploration of children's responses to some of the Caldecott prize-winning books, using a Piagetian-type interview. An attempt is made to find out why some children are "turned off" by books that, from all ostensible evidence, are of high quality. (CS)

This article discusses features of spoken and written language which are seldom systematically taught, and outlines a methodology for the teaching of reading comprehension. (AM)

COMPETENT LITERACY EDUCATION INVOLVES THE CONTINUOUS DIAGNOSIS AND CORRECTION OF DEFICIENCIES. THROUGH FORMAL AND INFORMAL DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES AND OBSERVATION, TEACHERS LOCATE SPECIFIC NEEDS AND DEFECTS AND THEN APPLY SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES TO MEET THOSE NEEDS AND CORRECT OR WORK AROUND THOSE DEFECTS. TO HELP TEACHERS LOCATE TECHNIQUES APPROPRIATE…

It is the contention here that the "prelinguistic" period is an important phase of the language acquisition process. Accordingly the research reported represents an attempt to begin mapping out the types of linguistically relevant information to which a young child attends. Specifically it is hypothesized that young children are…

The questioning techniques which teachers use when leading a class discussion of a reading assignment can be an essential component of profitable instruction. A brief review of the past 50 years of research on questioning levels indicates a need for attention to the cognitive level of queries as well as to their sequence since investigators have…

The purpose of this teaching module is to enable participants to demonstrate and apply their knowledge of comprehension and critical thinking skills, using the Watson-Glaser Test of Critical Thinking Ability. Critical thinking is defined as an attitude of thoughtful consideration of the problems and subjects that come within one's experience,…

Active and passive sentences were presented with probable and improbable semantic content to 100 first graders and 100 kindergartners. "Irreversible" sentences were considered improbable. In a design employing syntax, probability, grade, and sex as factors, probability and syntax were found significant both as main effects and in their…

To test the effectiveness of the cloze procedure for developing comprehension skills in reading at the intermediate level, 189 sixth graders were divided into small groups or asked to work independently during this reading program, which lasted five weeks. The materials were presented both as cloze materials and in unmutilated form, followed by…

How a child answers questions provides information about how he or she processes input. A child's early responses to questions at age one year, three months, were compared to her responses at one year, seven months, when she was in the two-word stage. (SW)

Twelve one-word-stage children were given minimally contrasting two-word instructions. Since non-linguistic cues were eliminated, comprehension involved making non-syntactic inferences from the word combinations. The children could respond correctly to some of the instructions, and even carried out some unfamiliar activities. (Author/SW)

This monograph is based on a doctoral thesis submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota in August 1969. (MG)