There are increasing numbers of English learners (ELs) in American classrooms today. Some of them have developmental language disorder (DLD) and receive intervention in the school setting. It is ideal to provide intervention that supports bilingual development in both the first language (L1) and English. When providing therapy, speech-language…

We evaluated the long-term effects of a supplemental, small-group kindergarten vocabulary intervention in fall and spring of first grade and winter of second grade. Participants included students from two studies, an initial efficacy study and a subsequent replication study, identified as at risk for language and learning difficulties, who were…

This study investigated the response to class-wide phonological awareness and oral language teaching for 40 children who entered school with speech and language difficulties. A stepped wedge research design was adopted to compare the immediate impact of the 10-week teacher-led instruction. The progress of the children with speech and language…

Objective: Of current interest in aphasia research is the relevance of what we can learn from studying word learning ability in aphasia. In a preliminary study, we addressed 2 issues related to the novel word learning ability of individuals with aphasia. First, as word learning engages large-scale cognitive-linguistic systems (language skills,…

English learners (ELs) struggle with vocabulary learning and often evidence serious vocabulary gaps. It is challenging, especially for professionals who do not speak the native language of the students, to teach EL students vocabulary that supports academic learning, is compatible with classroom instruction, and considers their changing language…

This early-stage feasibility study investigated the effects of a multitiered oral narrative language intervention on oral language, reading comprehension, and writing. Twenty-eight second-grade students participated in this quasi-experimental control group study with assignment at the classroom level. The independent variable was large- and…

Back-and-forth conversations with adults are critical for developing children's language, and, therefore, an important part of the early childhood classroom learning environment; however, the specific nature of teacher feedback, one component of teacher-child conversations, on child language has not been widely studied. This article examined…

Theory of Mind (ToM) is a foundational skill related to understanding the thoughts, beliefs, and desires of oneself and others. There are child factors that play an important role in the development of ToM (e.g., language and vocabulary) as well as environmental factors (e.g., conversations among family members and socioeconomic status). In this…

Purpose: There is general consensus that the ability to repeat nonsense words is related to vocabulary size in young children, but there is considerable debate about the nature of the relationship and the mechanisms that underlie it. Research with adults has proposed a shared neural substrate for nonword repetition (NWR) and language production,…

Prior research has shown that vocabulary instruction can enhance the comprehension of passages when instruction includes definitional and contextual information, provides multiple instructional encounters with the words, and requires learners to engage actively in processing of word meanings (M. F. Graves, 1986; S. A. Stahl & M. M. Fairbanks,…

This article examines the role of capacity limitations in working memory for children with specific language impairment (SLI). Preliminary findings support the contention that capacity constraints play a role in language disorders and that variations in the presentation rate of linguistic models affect the ability of children with SLI to learn new…

The article reviews the development of action words in the language of young children, provides a rationale and basis for the choice of action forms to include in an early vocabulary, and suggests strategies for facilitating action-word development in language impaired and normal children. (DB)

Components of first-grade intervention programs that addressed oral language and listening comprehension instruction within an intensive literacy intervention for native Spanish-speaking students struggling with reading difficulties are described. Findings for the intervention are based on 4 large-scale experimental studies (published elsewhere)…

This article focuses on development, elaboration, and measurement of word repertoire from world knowledge, as well as factors affecting the word-learning process and vocabulary assessment and remediation methods such as definition and association tasks. Several alternatives for vocabulary expansion based on world knowledge principles are also…

This article relates the ability to understand individual sentences both in and out of context by normal and developmentally delayed children at various developmental stages to the concept of world knowledge. Implications for assessment and treatment of sentence comprehension deficits among language-disordered students are discussed. (PB)