Initially, many children use language with enthusiasm and apparent ease, but this lively use of language is sharply curtailed shortly after they begin school. This can be attributed to teachers' monopolizing continued discourse. A study explored the idea that increased student oral participation by more students at a higher level of thinking would…

Four scales developed by Marion Monroe for recording, describing, analyzing, and rating children's oral language skills are described and presented in this paper. The skills assessed by the scales are first described as follows: (1) how a child thinks, as revealed by the quality of ideas; (2) how a child thinks, as revealed by definition of words;…

The discussion and activities in this booklet are designed to "tune in" language arts teachers to children's language so that they appreciate and respond properly to student language development. Chapter topics include responding to authentic/inauthentic child language, keeping records of children's spontaneous language and relating the words to…

This final report contains information on the Saskatoon Pre-School Project, which was part of a more comprehensive research and development project designed to develop effective services for educationally handicapped children in rural areas around Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada). One chapter of the report provides an account of the planning,…

The introduction of poetry into psychotherapy in the Western (European American) tradition and a growing interest in connections between the fine arts and the healing arts have prompted investigations of the parallel uses of poetry in other cultures. Examples of how three native American groups (Oglala Sioux, Piman, and Navaho) have used poetry in…

Noting the growing number of foreign students in colleges in the United States, this paper argues that communication educators should devote more discussion to the development of oral proficiency in those students. This paper (1) discusses the significance of the problem facing educators and foreign students, (2) examines the language training of…

The national Language Development Project in Australia, an undertaking concerned with informing teachers on matters to do with language, language development, and language and learning, is described in this report. The various sections of the report establish the project's purposes; offer discussions of developments in thinking and research of the…

This study assessed oral language readiness for reading of second-grade students in French and English monolingual and bilingual programs in Canada. The 220 students enrolled in French monolingual, English monolingual, immersion bilingual (90/10) and balanced bilingual (50/50) programs were tested with the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts and the Oral…

Analysis of the babbling of five infants indicated that between 14 and 40 percent of utterances recurred in particular contexts with a greater than expected frequency, suggesting that babbling is not entirely random but contains consistent sound-meaning relationships that are not adult-modeled. (Author/CB)

Reviews the status of and beliefs underlying the process of foreign language oral proficiency testing in the United States, including consideration of academic and nonacademic approaches to testing; the status of foreign language study; the need for foreign language speakers; and the reliability and validity of several tests used to assess foreign…

Observation of reticent (N=7) and normal talkative (N=7) kindergarten students with their teachers during classroom "sharing time" indicated that reticent children engaged in less complex speech than their peers, speaking more often about objects in the "here and now," speaking about one topic at a turn, and speaking in shorter…

A language teacher urges the use of authentic listening materials that do not conform to the strictest standards of spoken usage, as a way of getting to know the language's norms and variations. (MSE)

Research on child language acquisition should distinguish between different possible causes of variation and not just attribute variation to individual variation. An alternative analysis using a different methodology can show that children's patterns of acquisition are actually relatively similar. (Author/CB)

Discusses the signals that are used to create, sustain, and end conversational involvement in two different languages, with examples provided of paralinguistic attention getters, linguistic conversation initiation signals, "in-tune" signals, and "face-saving" signals from a study of English and Greek. (CB)

Describes various activities designed for use in the reading classroom, including (1) cooperative learning activities; (2) reading and writing activities; (3) ways to improve comprehension; and (4) ways to encourage independent reading. (FL)