Linguistic, psycholinguistic, and sociolinguistic aspects of word knowledge are examined. Vocabulary techniques are discussed according to how they build up word frequency, vocabulary growth in native speakers, underlying forms, semantic structure, word association, and case relations. (SCC)

A phenomenon called "pragmatic variation" is discussed as a child's individual system of behavior in response to a question the child doesn't understand but realizes that he must verbalize an answer to. (NCR)

In testing kindergartners and first graders in their comprehension of the words "before" and "after," it was found that when temporal terms are acquired, they are first used as prepositions and then as subordinating conjunctions. (Author/NCR)

Preschool children's comprehension of the adverbial modifiers "very" and "sort of" was experimentally investigated in 64 children. (Author/NCR)

This experiment used two groups of preschoolers and one group of young grade-schoolers to test for their comprehension of presuppositions and negation in complex syntax. (NCR)

Native signs used as basic kin terms in 20 sign languages from several sign language families are examined. (Author/NCR)

Discusses how a vast and easily acquired vocabulary of cognates is one element in facilitating the development of listening and speaking skills. (NCR)

As stated by Kane (1968), secondary students of mathematics must not only deal with the traditional written language code of English but also encounter concepts communicated through symbol systems. These dual language patterns can compound existing reading comprehension problems. Here is a plan mathematics teachers can use to improve the reading…

Your students will be using and building on reading-related skills during the rest of their schooling and throughout their lives. Here are some learning exercises emphasizing reading-skill activities as well as projects related to other curriculum areas. (Author/RK)

The achievement of labeling was investigated in a longitudinal study of one mother-infant dyad, using video-recordings and analysis of joint picture-book reading. Participating in a ritualized dialogue, rather than imitation, was found to be the major mechanism through which labeling was achieved. (Author/SW)

Advanced students can grasp the meaning of many new words from clues in the context. Such words often occur as obvious synonyms, as summarizing words, in comparisons and associations, etc. Two types of exercises are presented which may help to develop the students' ability to recognize such words. (IFS/WGA)

Word formation is seen as receiving too little attention in foreign language teaching; its study increases auditory and reading understanding. Practical suggestions are given for collecting and arranging material, and for analyzing the structure of words. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

The acquisition of textual competence in a language occurs through the acquisition of both lexical competence and knowledge of word order that allows the construction of well-formed sequences. Exercises that help develop vocabulary and word order skills in French as a foreign language are presented. (MSE)

Reports on three experiments that explored the metalinguistic competence of 26 deaf students to segment and manipulate their fingerspelled lexicons. Indicates their metalinguistic sophistication correlated selectively and significantly with reading success. Also reports on a training experiment that showed that deaf students identified more sight…

Investigates the extent to which the content of 55 college vocabulary texts is consistent with current research and theory on vocabulary instruction. Recommends less reliance on memorization and more emphasis on deep understanding and independent vocabulary development. (SKC)