The developmental trend of syntactic maturity and vocabulary diversity in the oral language of kindergarten through third grade children as they responded to adults in a structured situation was studied. Eighty subjects, 20 at each of four grade levels, were drawn at random from two middle class schools in Salina, Kansas. Five boys and five girls…

This vocabulary enrichment book presents over 100 word roots of the English language. Each root is defined and its origin discussed. Words which derive from the roots are also defined and used in sentences which illustrate their meaning and usage. Over a thousand words are included in all, deriving from such roots as: allos, alter, ambul, arch,…

Many teachers do not realize the ease with which vocabulary development can be integrated into courses of study. Techniques for accomplishing this are offered. (Author/MLF)

Few students know how to direct and sustain the type of listening essential both in school and daily life. Since success in school is closely related to understanding oral directions and spoken information, listening skills are crucial for each student's education. Here are some ideas designed to develop listening skills. (Author/RK)

Rationale for encouraging students' use of precise words. (AA)

Examines five types of vocabulary possessed by all learners and outlines methods for helping students build overall vocabulary abilities. (GW)

A technique for efficiently presenting a large number of vocabulary items for the testing of vocabulary comprehension in children younger than 2 years was used with 106 children from a wide range of social status groups and from both English and Spanish speaking families. (Author/SBH)

Describes principled, research-based ways to consider vocabulary instruction. Focuses on the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, the role of direct instruction, and definitional, contextual, and conceptual methods of vocabulary instruction. (SKC)

Reviews "Bataille de Mots," a computer-assisted French vocabulary program that utilizes a database of paired associates, and finds that "Bataille de Mots" is a good selection for foreign language software. (DJD)

Two strategies that children use to figure out new word meanings--attention to linguistic form class and the assumption of lexical contrast--were examined. It was found that very young children use both form class and lexical contrast to interpret new words. (PCB)

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)

Claims students' use of the cliche is unavoidable and relative to culture, place, and time, and that the cliche can, and often does, communicate efficiently. Suggests six techniques such as extending, inverting, punning, and combining, that combined with some imagination, can turn cliches into small teasures. (NH)

Long-term retention of new vocabulary meanings acquired through keyword or semantic-context methods was assessed in two experiments. College students learned 30 English vocabulary-meaning pairs. They were tested on cued-recall performance one week later. Although the keyword method facilitated initial learning of the vocabulary meanings, it did…

The efficacy of a keyword mnemonic strategy to teach word meanings was evaluated with 64, 12-year-old learning disabled poor readers. Subjects were instructed via either keyword-image, picture context, sentence-experience context, or control. Results indicated that the students in the keyword condition significantly outperformed other students…