This pamphlet presents an overview of speech and language disorders including a description of symptoms, possible causes, identification, intervention, and current research. Description of the disorders includes examples of symptoms; the four components and the physical tools of speech; and the role of the brain, including its hemispheres,…

Stressing the importance of understanding child development, this paper first describes the writing of several children in a kindergarten class who represent various levels of emerging literacy. Based on the descriptions of classroom activities, the paper argues that with a developmental perspective the teacher can build instruction on what the…

Creating a writing workshop atmosphere using computers in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom improves the opportunities for integrating all language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The computer also represents a new way of learning, emphasizing students' problem solving strategies and learning processes. Teachers…

This paper emphasizes the need for early childhood teachers to value themselves more highly in order to better their work with young children. The goal of working with children must be to build their self-esteem so they like themselves as human beings. The document (1) reviews research findings that will help teachers make insightful caregiving…

Intended for use as an inservice tool for elementary school teachers and as an independent study tool, this guide provides a framework for designing language experiences in the classroom. Following an introduction, the first section of the guide deals with language as communication, as thought, and as a series of interrelated skills. Three…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 32 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) textual relations within the written and spoken modes; (2) the construction of stance in conflict narrative; (3) the relational base theory of phrase…

This practicum report concerns the creation of a unique, yet universal, instructional tool for the education of parents of young children in Dover Township, New Jersey. With the approval of the local school system in which a cable television studio was located, a total of 11 half-hour shows were introduced. Local, school, and community members…

The difficulties children face as they are learning to read is the focus of this book, which is a collection of children's work (drawings and handwriting), with statements exploring their implications. The introduction discusses the relationship between early writing and early reading, individual differences, the question of age norms, questions…

Based on the thesis that reading is not a passive process by which readers soak up words and information from the page, but an active process by which they predict, sample, and confirm or correct their hypotheses about the written text, this book is an introduction to the theories of the psycholinguistic nature of the reading process and reading…

This detailed curriculum guide describes a model program (the Preschool Hearing Impaired Support Center) implemented in the Detroit Public Schools' preprimary classes for the hearing impaired. The auditory-oral approach is based on the developmental philosophy of Jean Piaget and on principles of regular early childhood education programs. Section…

This symposium focused on the special needs of visually handicapped infants and young children. Texts of 48 papers are presented, including keynote addresses by W. Aubrey Webson ("The First Steps") and Heather Hewitt ("First Steps--Parenting, Prevention and Programming"). Regional reports are provided for Japan, Bangladesh, the…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 17 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effects of an experimental program for reluctant readers on reading ability, writing ability, and self-concept; (2) the effects of a cross-age tutoring…

The nine articles are divided into three general topics: language, cognition, and social development. Eduardo Hernandez-Chavez discusses strategies in early second language acquisition and their implications for bilingual instruction. Eugene E. Garcia, Lento Maez, and Gustavo Gonzales examine the incidence of language switching in Spanish/English…

The proposed theoretical framework emphasizes the interaction between sociocultural, linguistic, and school program factors in explaining the academic and cognitive development of bilingual children. It is theorized that bilingualism that is cognitively and academically beneficial can be achieved only on the basis of adequately developed first…

Formal definitions are one example of "decontextualized" language use, in which reliance on background knowledge shared with the interlocutor is minimized, and use of conversational devices is avoided. Definitions of English nouns by 137 second- to fifth-grade children, about half of whom were non-native English speakers, were analyzed…