Purpose: Vocalization development has not been studied thoroughly in infants with early-identified hearing loss who receive hearing aids in the 1st year of life. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between auditory sensitivity and prelinguistic vocalization patterns in infants during the babbling stage. Method: Spontaneous…

This article presents the Let's Talk project as a different approach to oral language development. This approach was based on observations of classrooms in the Netherlands where children talked at large tables while playing with miniature figures representing people and objects they were familiar with in their daily lives. It was also influenced…

Background: Otitis media (OM) or middle ear infection is a common childhood illness and is most frequent during the crucial first 3 years of life when speech and language categories are being established, which could potentially have a long-term effect on language and literacy skill development. Aims: The purpose of the current study was to…

Language decline in many immigrant and ethnic communities is always a persistent problem in America. To prevent Native tribal languages from becoming obliterated, several organizations have been founded to document and teach Indigenous languages, a number of tribes have crafted ambitious language policies, and Congress approved the Native American…

The ways in which children learn a language--be it their mother tongue or their second language--can have a strong influence on their success in school. Researchers in linguistics and early child development have tried to determine the factors that can help and hinder language acquisition in young children, with some conflicting results. In this…

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) is designed to provide detailed information on children's development, health, and early learning experiences in the years leading up to entry into school. The ECLS-B is the first nationally representative study within the United States to directly assess children's early mental and…

Best practice is based on knowledge--not on beliefs or guesses--about how children learn and develop. This volume contains 20 overviews of research on aspects of young children's social, emotional, cognitive, or physical development, as well as how the findings can be applied in the classroom. Originally "Research in Review" articles in NAEYC's…

This book introduces beginning students of linguistics at all levels and general readers to the study of language, providing an overview of key topics and an explanation of basic terms and ideas. The book is also designed to encourage the reader to think about the way language works and reconsider some popular misconceptions about language and…

This study examined the prelinguistic communicative behaviors of 48 young Israeli children with hearing impairments (ages 8 months to 49 months). Most subjects were severely hearing impaired. Ninety percent were born to hearing parents. A parent questionnaire utilizing a direct observation methodology in six situational contexts was selected,…

Noting that effective teaching of language arts requires commitment to excellence on the part of classroom teachers, the goal of this book is to provide support, motivation, and knowledge for the classroom teacher who is responsible for the effective teaching of all children. Each chapter in the book contains features geared to the development of…

Through content analysis of interviews based on a class art activity, a study of 15 first-graders investigated children's perceptions of a good story. The story was based on children's interpretation of artwork they had created. Through the use of content analysis, three major themes of the children's stories were identified: (1) animals as main…

This issue of working papers focuses on the relationship between the mind and language. Papers include the following: (1) "The Role of Language of Thought in Foreign Language Learning" (Andrew D. Cohen); (2) "UG Accessibility in Second Language Acquisition: Re-examining the Binding Parameter" (Howard Chen); (3) "Helping Philippe: Constructions of…

A study explored the vocabulary development available in a variety of current preschoolers' television shows. A quantitative analysis of seven programs on two networks (PBS and Nickelodeon) was undertaken over a total viewing time of 40 hours; a qualitative analysis of techniques used to present vocabulary was also documented for these shows.…

This Ready--Set--Read Kit includes an activity guide for caregivers, a 1997-98 early childhood activity calendar, and an early childhood growth chart. The activity guide part of the kit presents activities and ideas that caregivers (family child care providers and the teachers, staff, and volunteers in child development programs) can use to help…

This paper describes experiences in teaching ethnic and linguistic minority children with learning difficulties and counseling their families, from 1976 to 1992 in Pakistan and England. The paper begins with a vignette describing an ethnic minority child with learning difficulties. A global approach to the issues is then presented, examining the…