This article presents a study on novel language forms and uses across evolving digital environments, and questions whether emerging digital communication conventions should have a place in language education. The study was motivated by the deepening gap between the content of and approaches to language instruction evident in popular…

The Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) communication skills lexicon, compiled for use in the development of elementary instruction, is a set of words used by children between kindergarten and sixth grade. Although the lexicon was originally derived from the most comprehensive and up-to-date sources available, the major studies on which the…

This collection of essays is concerned with the relationships between language and education. It is intended to be used in an undergraduate course but may also be used by many others interested in language in an educational context. A variety of approaches to the subject are considered, including the philosophical, psychological, sociological,…

Based on an examination of research on the language acquisition of children, the articles in this book are organized into three interrelated sections. Section one, "Language and the Young Language Learner," focuses on what and how children learn as they begin to acquire their language. The topic of language differences is also explored. Articles…

The purposes of this study were to develop an informal language inventory for classroom teachers to use in screening a child's speech, to have classroom teachers use the inventory with students to determine if they could use it, and to determine if teachers would use the assessment form after they had had some experience with it. The development…

In order to gain further information about the emerging metaphoric capacity of preadolescents, a training study was devised in which subjects were seen repeatedly over a period of several months. Thirteen fifth grade students from a lower-middle-class background were randomly selected to compose a training group and 18 matched subjects formed a…

This study of written language development and instruction of elementary school children found that realistic approaches are needed in teaching language usage, dialects, and registers. These approaches should include a nonrepetitive instructional system accounting for different linguistic abilities, a diagnostic evaluation of children's written…

Given the rather sparse and somewhat confusing literature dealing with the topic of metaphor and metaphoric usage, this study attempted to (1) determine the basal level of metaphorical usage in grades 3, 4, and 5; (2) evaluate a series of books ("Making It Strange") designed to promote and augment figurative usage in these grades; (3) determine…

The 14 articles in this journal issue provide suggestions for making language study interesting. Specific topics discussed in the articles include (1) metaphors, (2) expressing feelings, (3) grammar for speakers of nonstandard English dialects, (4) medical jargon, (5) grammar in the writing process, (6) the rhetoric of teacher comments, (7) slang,…

This study investigated verbal behavior of five third-grade children representing three cultural groups: Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean, and white. Ten sessions involving various language arts activities were tape recorded over a five-week period; session 7 was also videotaped. Sessions 3 to 10 involved group interaction across three interaction…

Evidence from the language use of young children is used to question accepted notions of language development and instruction in the three papers in this compilation. The first paper, "Young Children Challenge the Belief That Language Needs to be Taught Sequentially," challenges the notion of sequential development in which oral language…

Teacher talk can be characterized as a "caregiving" style which has certain identifiable phonological, lexical, and grammatical features. Analysis of classroom discourse can make teachers and students of language aware of the process of communication, and can identify particular uses of nonverbal as well as verbal communication. This, in…

A study of two public school kindergarten classes in New York City, heterogeneously grouped according to ethnic origin and social background, revealed that the maturity and fluency of the children's language varied according to the type of classroom activity in which they were engaged. From observational recordings of teacher-class interaction, it…

This book presents chapters concerning various aspects of research in language arts and implications for language instruction. The works of individuals are mentioned throughout the book, and 1,168 references are included in a list of works cited in the text. The research topics covered involve language development, oral language, listening, the…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 13 titles deal with the following topics: (1) developmental differences in preschoolers' comprehension of WH-questions; (2) discourse analysis and early literacy in minority education; (3) effects of text structure on…