The underlying semantic structure of the complete lexicon of four Hebrew-speaking infants at the one-word stage of lexical development was examined. Particular attention was given to the timing of word acquisition and the patterns of identified relationships among words. Three types of interrelationships among early words were explored: (1)…

Previously reported data (Brown, 1973) on language acquisition were analyzed to provide information about the correspondence of form, function, and meaning. The spontaneous speech records of two children were investigated. The observation period began when the boy was 25 months old and the girl was 18 months old and lasted 11 months. The…

A case study of the use of reflexive constructions by a Spanish-speaking child from age 2;5.2 to 3;5.2 is presented. Sixty hours of audiotaped utterances were recorded monthly over a one year period. The utterances are analyzed in terms of self-induced actions, impersonal constructions, and two-argument predicates. The data show the regular…

The spontaneous use of two deictic forms in the speech of Samoan children was examined. Recordings were made of four Samoan children interacting with their families at monthly intervals over a ten-month period. The children were approximately 2 years old at the start of the study. The speech elements examined were the particles signifying…

The form and function of conditional structures in the speech of English speaking children between the ages of 2;6 and 8 years were investigated. Two types of conditionals were distinguished: reality conditionals and unreality conditionals. Data were obtained from audiotapes of the subjects under naturalistic conditions. A five-stage acquisition…

A series of studies investigated whether infants can detect cues in ongoing speech that could help them delineate those segments that correspond to grammatical units like phrases and words. The methodology of the study involved asking whether infants show a preference between speech samples in which pauses have been inserted coincident with the…

The objectives of this paper are (1) to present the relationship of play to language and cognition, (2) to describe the stages of play and discuss recent literature about the characteristics of play, and (3) to describe the use of play with the multifaceted goals of cognition, pragmatics, semantics, syntax, and morphology as an intervention…

The study examined the effects of sensory integration therapy (SIT) on the language development of 15 developmentally delayed preschoolers and the effects of SIT in combination with language therapy. Results of pre- and post-tests using the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development, and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, and the Mean…

The paper reports on a study of communication skills in twin infants, a deaf male and a hearing female, who have hearing impaired parents and an older deaf sibling. Videotapes of interaction in the home were transcribed and analyzed according to communication mode and pragmatic function. Findings suggested that both twins were somewhat delayed in…

The paper reviews research on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in language development and/or instruction with the deaf. Contributions of computer assisted instruction are noted, as are the problems resulting from over-dependence on a drill and practice format and from deaf students' difficulties in receiving and understanding new…

Children at four age levels (4,6,8, and 10 years) were given continuous recognition tasks using concrete noun, abstract noun, and pictorial stimuli in a 4 x 3 factorial design. Recognition for both concrete and abstract nouns was found to be linear and increasing significantly with age, but no age trends for picture recognition were found.…

The author suggests an evolutionary typology of languages and a way to integrate the concept of linguistic modernization with a theory of language problems. (Author/PM)

Black and white children, matched for social class and nonverbal intelligence, were tested on vocabulary words and sentences presented in black dialect and standard English. Both groups performed equally well on standard English sentences, but white children performed significantly poorer in black dialect sentences. (ST)

Nursery school children were presented with a simple, miniature artificial language in one of three conditions in a study of language acquisition. (SBT)

The acquisition of verb meaning is discussed and compared with the acquisition of simple noun meaning. Evidence presented from three experiments with children and adults indicates that (1) verbal meanings are relatively slow to be acquired; (2) the acquisition of verb meaning involves the gradual addition of semantic components; and (3) verbs are…