A study designed to determine what characterizes effective instructional explanation in reading involved reading instruction, by the researcher, of four reading groups and one child in a third/fourth grade classroom in the fall, and two groups plus one child the remainder of the academic year. The researcher was observed 32 times during the year;…

Activities to Facilitate Nonvocal Language-Communication Boards, an activity guide providing augmentative communication systems to children who cannot effectively speak, was field tested with 51 severely handicapped children (6 months to 4 years old). All had a poor prognosis for developing speech. Language development scores from standard…

Language training for the non-verbal or language delayed child should utilize feedback to reinforce correct responses and should closely follow the syntactical development of normal children. The two basic areas of language training are receptive and expressive. Receptive language training includes attending and responding, following single phase…

A good collection of French proverbs and their English equivalents, classified according to subject. It is suggested that proverbs be used to promote the learning of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, ease of self-expression, and appreciation of French culture. (AMH)

As handicapped children are mainstreamed, regular classroom teachers must become more skilled in identifying and remediating language deficiencies. Available from: Allen Raymond, Inc., P.O. Box 1223, Darien, Connecticut 06820. (GW)

A rationale for the importance of analyzing spontaneous language use by persons with severe disabilities is offered. Use of a continuum of cues can help evaluate language needs and serve as the basis of a training program. Three recent studies demonstrating procedures for teaching spontaneous language use are reviewed. (Author/DB)

This brief paper summarizes research on effective instruction in writing for students with learning disabilities. It finds that three components stand out as methods that reliably and consistently lead to improved outcomes in teaching expressive writing to these students. These components are: (1) adhering to a basic framework of planning,…

Briefly described is an instructional activity, the "Short Story Booklet," designed to aid exceptional students in grades 7-12 to put their thoughts on paper. The students write stories using processes of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing and compile them into booklets. (DB)

Three case studies are reported, illustrating use of Structured Role Play Therapy in teaching moderately language-delayed children, aged 4-6, to produce specifically targeted grammatical forms and to generalize production to sentences not included in therapy activities. The role-playing resulted in rapid increases in production accuracy of…

Two children, aged six and nine, with moderate mental retardation were taught syntactic rules for combining known and unknown words into two-word utterances. The use of receptive teaching with imitation of the target phrase facilitated both generalized receptive learning and transfer to production in both subjects. (Author/JDD)

This paper deals with the specific problems of the adolescent and adult hearing-impaired individual who wishes to improve and develop his or her expressive speech ability. Considered are issues critical to the learning process, intervention strategies for improving speech production, and speech production as one part of communication competency.…

Voice programing for preschool children with communication disabilities is discussed, including suggestions for enriching the child's auditory environment, selecting target goals, and providing consistency of target presentations by caregivers. Sample vocal awareness and production goals and strategies are offered. (Author/DB)

This pamphlet is the seventh in a series of ten stemming from the view that language is central to learning, that teachers can gain insights into their work and into learning by examining the language of the classroom, and that current language theory can be the means to such insights. The pamphlet describes a project in which recordings of…