An article prepared for Forum Lectures of the Voice of America, which discusses the development of language in animals, and the influence of the brain. (JM)

Lecture given before the Annual Conference and Course on Reading (23d, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., July 10-21, 1967).

Reading levels attained by two groups of language-disordered children at the end of the first year of school were compared. Results confirmed the association between reading disability and language disorders, and yielded group differences: reading achievement was associated with semantic and syntactic competencies. (Author/RD)

It is suggested that although patterns learned as a part of native language acquisition may interfere with learning a second language, the use of metalanguages may promote an understanding of the native language that in turn contributes to learning others. Specific examples of classroom exercises are included. (MSE)

The relative effectiveness of total communication and oral communication training in a parent-assisted, home-based language intervention program was studied with 15 Down's syndrome children, 18-36 months old. (Author/SEW)

Describes the interrelationship of reading and writing and proposes a full-school program for reading and writing development that builds on the full range of personal use of written language. (JL)

The degree of correlation of the "concept" subtest of the Developmental Indicators of the Assessment of Learning (DIAL) with the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts (BTBC) was studied with 95 beginning kindergarten children. Both measures were highly correlated, indicating the evaluation of similar abilities. (Author/SEW)

Children's pragmatic abilities were studied focusing on "requesting" in a group of 30 language impaired children (three to nine years old). There was a predominant usage of direct forms with only a slight increase of indirect ones in the older group. (Author/SEW)

The distinction in meanings of the English word "educated" and Spanish "educado" is used to illustrate a theory of semantic memory for the bilingual that proposes two lexical stores, one for each language, in close cooperation with and connected by one semantic memory. The postulated relation between the lexicons and the semantic memory is…

Sensitivity to differences in lexical stress was studied in monolingual French-, German-, and Swedish-speaking four- and five-year-olds. For most discriminations the older children performed better, but for a trisyllabic discrimination not found in French, the older children performed less well, supporting an attunement theory of language…

A study investigating a mother's use of discussion of picture books as a language acquisition strategy is reported, and the usefulness of establishing routine items and constructions in such discussion is examined. Use of the situation-specific approach to studying input language is also discussed. (MSE)

The results showed that while the children with bilateral OME did not differ in terms of background characteristics, they were significantly disadvantaged in speech articulation ability, verbal comprehension, motor development, and intelligence. They also had significantly more behavior problems. (Author)