Research Findings: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of linguistic training based on the use of the Drežancic method in educational settings. It is hypothesized that characteristics of this method, based on the typical stages of linguistic and cognitive development, could influence both language competence and executive function (EF). A…

This study provides experimental evidence for preschool children's competence in basic information structure, with particular attention to the notions of topic and focus. It investigates their mastery of structural and definiteness distinctions to encode the information status of discourse referents, and seeks to distinguish linguistic competence…

Details findings indicating that most early linguistic competence is item based. Maintains that language development proceeds without evidence of system-wide syntactic categories, schemas, or parameters. Suggests that findings are not easily explained by the development of children's skills of linguistic performance, pragmatics, or other external…

The proposal that young children's communicative intentions stem from prelinguistic cognitive abilities is examined in detail. The most developed available formulation of this proposal, that provided by Brown (1973), is evaluated, and the evidence in support of it is found to be insufficient. Three crucial problems, which must be solved before an…

Analyzes the developmental patterns in the production of analogy by second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade students to determine whether children use different types of analogy as they achieve linguistic maturity. (HOD)

Describes the ability of two boys to speak backward and discusses private speech play behavior in relation to linguistic, cognitive, and social development. (EKN)

The present volume reflects the proceedings of the fourth annual symposium at the Carnegie-Mellon University, which dealt with developmental linguistics in general and with child language acquisition in particular. Contents include an Introduction by John R. Hayes; "Derivational Complexity and Order of Acquisition in Child Speech," by R. Brown and…

An analysis of sentence grammar is made to show that the ability to produce coherent texts emerges slowly and late in linguistic and cognitive development. (HP)

The developmental nature of the reflective concept of "word" in young children was investigated and the degree to which these developmental aspects of metalinguistic awareness correspond to levels of cognitive development as described by Piaget was studied. (HOD)

Examined parental speech data demonstrating that linguistic input to children does not contain sufficient information to support unaided learning of the pronoun "one." Examined 18-month-olds' interpretation of sentences with a "one" substitution. Found that 18-month-olds have command of the syntax of "one." Because…

Reviews "The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language" (S. Pinker). Defines generative grammar, examines the evidence for Pinker's Generative Grammar as Instinct hypothesis, and discusses Pinker's use of language acquisition as support for the hypothesis. Suggests alternative theories of language that begin from different…

Assesses the importance and implications of the 'critical period' in second-language learning, which occurs when second-language learning overlaps primary language learning, ages two to thirteen. (LG)

In this study, two rival accounts of the mental operations used to solve Piaget's three-mountain perspective task are tested. One hypothesis is that if children use some form of mental rotation through anticipatory imagery, scores should improve as the angle of separation between the child and the other viewer is decreased. A second hypothesis is…

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…