Researching the longitudinal development of second language (L2) learners is essential to understanding influences on their success. This 7-year study of oral skills in adult immigrant learners of English as a second language evaluated comprehensibility, fluency, and accentedness in first-language (L1) Mandarin and Slavic language speakers. The…

This paper is intended for early childhood caregivers--teachers in centers and those caring for children in homes. It is intended to help caregivers learn more about how children develop the ability to "use words" to communicate their thoughts and needs and ask questions, and to "understand language they hear" in conversations and in books. Why is…

In Japanese, self-qualification, or a qualifying segment of talk that reduces the force of the speaker's own utterances, is frequently introduced with contrastive markers, such as "demo," "kedo," and "ga." This study explores the relationship between the grammatical and pragmatic competence of Japanese L2 learners by examining their use of such…

Examines psychologist David R. Olson's current work on children's language development and its possible educational implications. Stresses the increasing tendency to investigate children's language development in relation to their thinking and learning rather than in isolation and to include literacy development in the oral language development…

Concludes that the training of elementary school teachers to increase the frequency of oral questioning behavior in ethnic group students diagnosed as weak in oral communication increases the oral expression of those students. (FL)

A study investigated whether second language (L2) learners' participation in negotiation with native speakers (NSs) meets their needs for data on L2 lexical and structural features. The question was addressed through an analysis of NS utterances of negotiation that were produced as 20 native speaker-non-native speaker (NS-NNS) dyads carried out…

The development of children's oral language ability, speaking, and listening, is examined in light of recent research and its implications for language arts teachers. (HTH)

Investigates preschoolers' acquisition of oral narrative skills in Venezuela. Finds that, very early on, children from diverse social backgrounds produce narratives that differ in structure and evaluation; that these differences become more marked at the age of five than at the age of four; and that these skills do not follow a single…

Presents a mixed picture of the influence of classroom drama lessons on students' oral language growth. Demonstrates that time can be taken from the regular language arts program and given to drama without adverse effect in the development of students' oral language. (EL)

Presents an experimental approach to the linguistic analysis of discourse organization. (FL)

Inconclusive evidence that second-language learners understand a foreign language better than they speak it led to a study of the comprehension of native and nonnative speakers. Results indicated that second-language learners speak better than they understand. The paper discusses three conditions for learning: overt activity, emotional…

A study analyzed responses of 20 children with and without language impairment to two narrative genres, oral narratives and emergent readings, elicited in the children's homes. Subjects were 2-to 4-year-old preschool children from the metropolitan area of a mid-sized midwestern city: 10 children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 10 with…

The question addressed in this paper is whether explicit instruction makes any difference in the acquisition of modals or whether opportunities for interaction are sufficient. Eight non-native speakers (NNSs), aged 17-35 and representing several nationalities, were tested. The language focus was "will,""be going to," and…

Discusses 32 studies which address the relationship between creative drama and language skills. Also provides a chart that includes the following information on each study: drama treatment, language measurement instruments, population, control group or alternate treatment, significant results, conclusions, and other factors studied. (PD)

A study of the language usage of 80 middle school students revealed no significant difference between the sexes on any measure of syntactic maturity; however, boys deviated from standard usage somewhat more frequently than did girls, and boys produced more words in oral language while girls produced more words in written language. (ET)