Children ranging in age from 1;1 to 1;3 were presented with 16 contrived lexical concepts, each consisting of a nonsense word (eight object words and eight action words) and four unfamiliar exemplars that served as the referents for that word. Overall, the children used 65% of the experimental words one or more times to refer to at least one of…

The speech of each of eight children aged 15 to 24 months was monitored in an informal setting and analyzed for the imitation of nonsense words introduced by the experimenter. In a second session, objects were introduced as referents for the nonsense words. Results failed to support the two initial hypotheses, namely that children imitate in part…

Presents a critical review of studies designed to teach language production skills to children with specific language impairment. The evidence reviewed suggests that a number of training approaches are effective, often resulting in gains that exceed the rate seen in normal development, provided the speaking situation resembles enough the training…

Describes early word usage in four children aged 1.6 to 1.9. The research investigated the children's use of words whose referents are unknown to them. (Author/AM)

A study suggesting semantic rather than syntactic early language acquisition by children. (CH)

Focus is one factor that may account for children's use of single-word utterances after they have acquired the use of multi-word utterances. The possible role that focus may play in children's use of single-word utterances in naturalistic settings, after the acquisition of syntax, was investigated. (SW)

Reports three studies concerning individual differences in children's use of consonants during early phonological development. The findings indicate that these differences fall within a predictable range, that the linguistic environment cannot account for several of them, and that they are partly due to variations in the choice of lexical items.…

A longitudinal study examining the role of imitation on children's lexical acquisition is discussed here. Findings did not support the view that imitation may enable new lexical items to be acquired, and it is noted that other functions of imitation in language acquisition should be explored. (CHK)

Examines the communicative functions served by the lexical usage of normal and language impaired children whose speech was limited to single word utterances. (EKN)