This study examined the effects that a multi-component intervention had on play behaviors and mean length of utterance (MLU) of eight Head Start children at risk for language delays and social skill development. The intervention consisted of three components: (a) a planning period included reading a story book that illustrated the play theme and…

The pronunciation of voiceless stops in the initial and final position of monosyllabic words was studied with nine individuals (ages 13-17) with Down's Syndrome to determine whether the vowel affects the consonant production. A 55-page review of previous literature and research on the phonology of speakers with Down's Syndrome is included. The…

The study described in this paper focuses on English language acquisition by adult Hmong Laotian immigrants in an English as a Second Language (ESL) program in a city in the Northeastern United States. Preexistent levels of literacy and second language familiarity are discounted as influences on the speed of students' acquisition of language.…

The purpose of this master's degree project was to help teachers enhance children's language through the use of a variety of activities. Specifically, there were three stages to the project: (1) selection and preparation of a set of activities designed to elicit child language in each of several areas of the Tough classification of children's oral…

This study compared language and social skills development in 32 developmentally delayed preschool children classified as having speech/language impairments. Social skills were rated by teachers on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Language scores were from the Preschool Language Scale administered by speech/language therapists. Statistical…

A study investigated what pregnant women and mothers of infants do to develop language and promote a love of reading in their children during the early stages of life. Two surveys were used, the first completed by 15 pregnant women, and the second completed by 15 women with infant children. Results indicated that: (1) the majority of pregnant…

Four families with hearing impaired preschoolers who were involved in parent-infant education at the John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles were included in a study of the effects of limited English speaking parents on children with hearing impairments. The 6 month parent-infant education program was provided in Spanish. Sessions were adapted to each…

Productive errors in the Spanish of 3 Spanish-speaking children and 115 adults learning Spanish as a second language are analyzed. The errors are organized into three categories--lexical, morphological, and syntactic--and each category is further divided according to the type of cognitive error-processing strategy shown: simplification, reduction…

This master's thesis focuses on the relationship between children's development of communicative competence and patterns of communication between children and their primary caregivers. An overview of major changes, since the 1950s, in the theoretical and empirical approaches to language development is presented in Chapter II. Within this overview,…

This study has been done to gather data as to whether there is improvement in vocabulary development, reading comprehension and reading fluency when a child is reading aloud and he or she has a reading companion as opposed to not having a reading companion. As this literature review indicates there has been a lot of research on the benefits of…

An action research project described a program for teaching students beginning reading strategies that will help them to become independent readers. The targeted population consisted of first grade elementary students in a growing middle class community located in a suburb of a large metropolitan area in the Midwest. The problems of beginning…

A study was conducted to determine if pregnant women read to their unborn child. A randomly selected sample of 47 pregnant women in the Toms River, New Jersey area between the ages of 20 and 35, visiting their obstetricians' offices for monthly checkups were chosen for the study. A questionnaire was administered to mothers in the waiting room…

A study was conducted to determine the effects of word imagery on the retention of sight vocabulary. It was hypothesized that in an urban, low income area first grade class there would be no significant difference between the acquisition and retention rates of high imagery words and those of low imagery words. Using one group of high imagery words…

Current articles on the power and influence of children's literature on primary children's literacy development and achievement were reviewed. Research indicates that literature has a positive effect on the academic achievement of children and that literacy skills are essential components of academic success. Children who have been exposed to…

A study explored the vocabulary development available in a variety of current preschoolers' television shows. A quantitative analysis of seven programs on two networks (PBS and Nickelodeon) was undertaken over a total viewing time of 40 hours; a qualitative analysis of techniques used to present vocabulary was also documented for these shows.…