Learning academic vocabulary is a crucial task for all students, but especially challenging for students with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) and those who are multilingual. Following a participatory research strategy, we analyze whether iconic gestures can be integrated in teaching routines in an inclusive elementary school and…

Second-language learners display poorer general language skills in the language used at school than their monolingual peers, which is a concern because general language skills (vocabulary, grammar, language expression, and comprehension) provide the foundation for later academic success. In a randomized controlled trial, we examined the efficacy…

Forty native Spanish-speaking children (age 8;0-10;3), 20 with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and 20 with Typical Language Development (TLD), received a battery of psycholinguistic tests, IQ, hearing screenings, and the Spanish Non-word Repetition Task (NRT). The children's repetition of 20 non-words was scored. The percentage of correct…

Narratives require the integration of many different linguistic skills and can be used as an ecologically valid measure of child language development. This study investigated the narrative skills of 18 six- to seven-year-old prelingually deaf children who received simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants (CI) between 5 and 18 months of age. No…

This article aims to evaluate the whole-class reading program Language And Reading Skills (LARS) and its effects on the decoding, reading comprehension, and language abilities of 1st-language (L1) and 2nd-language (L2) German 2nd graders. The program consisted of teacher training and differentiated reading materials adapted to the needs of both L1…

This investigation compares child language obtained with standardized tests and samples of spontaneous speech obtained in natural settings. It was hypothesized that differences would exist between social class and racial groups on the unfamiliar standard tests, but such differences would not be evident on spontaneous speech measures. Also, higher…

The discriminant validity of two subscales of the Reynell Developmental Language Scales (RDLS) was investigated using data from 225 children given the RDLS at age 4 and the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities at age 5. Results support the hypothesis; the RDLS scales measure distinct but correlated language abilities. (SLD)

IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF A STRUCTURED PRESCHOOL ACADEMIC PROGRAM UPON THE COGNITIVE GROWTH OF CULTURALLY DEPRIVED CHILDREN, A LONGITUDINAL STUDY WAS BEGUN ON 107 FOUR-YEAR-OLDS IN CLEVELAND, OHIO. RELEVANT RESEARCH LITERATURE WAS REVIEWED IN DESIGNING THE STUDY. THE FIRST PHASE, RECOUNTED IN THIS REPORT, EXPLORED PSYCHO-LINGUISTIC,…

The language skills category of objectives of the Appalachia Preschool Education Program as measured by the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA), is discussed. The point is made that one of the difficulties associated with evaluating language development is the loose fit between available theoretical and operational definitions of…

The Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) is treated in terms of the ability measured, hints for administration and scoring, and questions often asked for each of the nine subtests. Typical profiles are described and analyzed for mentally retarded, kindergarteners, slow learners, culturally disadvantaged, Negroes, good and poor…