The receptive and expressive "wh" interrogative performance of 20 language-delayed children (4.3 to 6.4 years old) was compared to available normative data. These findings suggest that the delayed children develop the same order of acquisition and rules for questioning as normal children, but at a slower rate. (Author/SEW)

Two approaches for analyzing the measures reflected in children's early word combinations are described and illustrated. The first interpretive approach involves detailed analysis of spontaneous speech. The second approach uses individualized probes that are designed to isolate the semantic factors involved in children's word combination patterns.…

Children's pragmatic abilities were studied focusing on "requesting" in a group of 30 language impaired children (three to nine years old). There was a predominant usage of direct forms with only a slight increase of indirect ones in the older group. (Author/SEW)

A case study is presented in which a language impaired three-year-old used suprasegmental features to distinguish singular and plural forms in spontaneous speech. Acoustic analyses revealed that the suprasegmentals included various duration, fundamental frequency, and intensity parameters. Phonological, morphological, and psycholinguistic factors…

The frequency and type of inappropriate word extensions (i.e., use of ball for moon) in the spontaneous speech of nine young language disordered children (2.8 to 3.4 years old) were studied. The percentage of inappropriate word extensions of these children was comparable to that of normal children at the same level of linguistic development.…

A study was conducted to determine: (1) whether language-impaired children have deficient paraphrase capabilities; (2) whether these deficiencies are both qualitative and quantitative; and (3) whether these abnormal skills are deterimental to normal linguistic growth. Forty-eight children from grades 1,3,5, and 7, with language impairments for…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 23 titles deal with the following topics: sex appropriate and sex inappropriate language; lexical retrieval and perceptual errors; naming deficits in anomia and aphasia; developmental discourse; pragmatic information and…

Down Syndrome children exhibit language delays, particularly in expressive abilities, more severe than would be anticipated from their cognitive level alone. This research project sought to develop a procedure for introducing total communication into the home environment of prelinguistic Down Syndrome infants and for comparing the relative…

This is the second report of a longitudinal project, initiated in 1970, in which children with and without language problems are identified in French immersion and English kindergartens and closely monitored to the end of grade 3. This study investigates the desirability of early French immersion program for English-speaking children with language…