This article seeks to reframe how early childhood educators think about their role in play by answering these questions: What really matters in play? How should we spend our time and energy planning, implementing, and building our expertise around play in early childhood teaching and learning? The answers reside in 5 big ideas from play research…

Many children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have a vocabulary deficit. One of the most effective interventions for increasing children's lexicon size is the semantic and phonological approach, an approach that has been used mainly with adolescents. The goals of our study are (1) to test whether the semantic-phonological approach…

The purpose of this project was to investigate the effectiveness of a language-focused professional development programme on the knowledge and behaviour of preschool practitioners (sometimes called early years practitioners) in the UK. In Study 1 we determined whether the training received by practitioners is effective in improving their knowledge…

Through a strong Montessori orientation to the parameters of spoken language, Joen Bettmann makes the case for "materializing" spoken knowledge using the stimulation of real objects and real situations that promote mature discussion around the sensorial aspect of the prepared environment. She lists specific materials in the classroom…

Published research shows that English speakers gain literacy skills up to the 7-year level more effectively when taught using a language experience approach rather than a word reading approach (reading common words plus phonic reading). It is suggested that this is because of the almost unique nature of English phonology, that is the strengthening…

During the summer of 2005, a longtime Japanese teacher at a K-8 school in southwestern Pennsylvania unexpectedly resigned. The school, unable to recruit a new teacher for the 2005-2006 school year, chose to suspend the teaching of Japanese and to establish a committee to examine the foreign language program within the overall school curriculum. In…

This paper describes a form of teacher-student interaction, incidental teaching, which works to elaborate oral language within everyday classroom activities. The research basis of the methodology, an overview of the method of incidental teaching, and examples of its applications for the classroom are given. (Author/AM)

Urges educators to utilize metaphors in language instruction. Two experiments support this position. The results of the first experiment reveal that students learn lexical items more efficiently if presented in metaphors. The results of the second experiment indicate the usefulness of metaphors in developing students' critical thinking. (CFM)

Urges teachers, in helping children acquire language power, to provide opportunities for the students to enlarge their experiences and then help them find appropriate words to clarify and organize thinking about that experience. (MM)

Anti-intellectualism, apathy, demand for practical and instantly relevant materials and discussions, and demand for democratic process in areas where it was never meant to apply are some of the problems faced by this twelfth-grade English teacher. Suggests possible plans for coping with these and other problems. (RB)

Concerned with the student that uses the non-standard language of his family and friends, and suggests ways and techniques the teacher can use to teach language to these students. (RB)

Presents a personal account of how haiku can be used with primary students not only to explore language arts but also to share a love of the earth and its various peoples. (HTH)

The staff of the Individualized Language Arts Diagnosis, Prescription, and Evaluation Project, a funded ESEA Title III program, has developed methods based on a diagnostic-teaching framework designed to analyze students' writing skills for grades 1-12. The program structure also provides teachers with methodology for developing and reinforcing…

Dramatic play, an activity for which children show a natural inclination, provides kindergarten children with the opportunities for acquiring new vocabulary, extending word meaning, acquiring and practicing verbal expression and syntactical patterns, and gaining in language facility. In order to foster this language development, kindergarten…

Explores ERIC materials on various theories of language development and their implications for vocabulary development in classroom settings. Provides suggestions for enriching the school language environment to promote vocabulary growth. (HTH)