The study compared semantic relationships expressed in the word meanings of 56 profoundly hearing-impaired subjects divided into children older than and younger than 9 years. Although there were significant differences between the groups on the number of semantic relationships produced, the groups did not differ significantly on the types or…

Reviews 17 children's literature trade books which encourage the reader to revel in language via word play, riddles, word study, rhymes, charts, songs, and poetry. (SR)

Explores (from a historical perspective) work in a number of disciplines regarding the order and the complexity of cultural inventions. Applies this exploration to children's shaping, transformation, and invention of their world, specifically in language and learning. (SR)

Two studies of preschool and kindergarten children found that language-delayed children performed more poorly than normal children on phoneme awareness tasks, particularly on tasks requiring explicit linguistic analysis; and language-delayed children who received phoneme awareness training made and maintained significant gains, performing…

Features associated with the production of linguistic prosody were investigated in seven young speech-disordered children and seven young children with age-appropriate speech abilities. The primary differences between groups were in time characteristics of imitated responses. Results are discussed in terms of physiologic and/or linguistic…

Two studies examined the validity of parent report for measuring language in children with specific language delay using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories for comparison. Results suggest that parent report appears to be valid for measuring language production skills in this population. Validity was strongest for vocabulary…

Two accounts for the segmental and prosodic anomalies observed in plurals produced by five adults with specific language impairment (SLI), one prosodic and one morphological, are compared. The prosodic account proposed is that the grammars of these individuals do not tolerate extraprosodicity: indirect licensing by the prosodic word. (Author/VWL)

This longitudinal study evaluated grammatical judgments of "well formedness" of children (N=21) with specific language impairment (SLI). Comparison with two control groups found that children with SLI rejected morphosyntactic errors they didn't commit but accepted errors they were likely to make. Findings support the extended optional infinitive…

One of a series of letters to parents of children with developmental apraxia of speech (DAS), this letter discusses issues and current thinking about the nature and causes of the disorder. These include the idea that DAS is a disorder of overall language development or that DAS is a problem of the "motor-programming" system for speech.…

Reviewing the language instinct debate, this article identifies generativist views with the baby's proverbial bathwater. Suggests that instead of analyzing language into form-based units, it should be treated as an aspect of social life deriving from a capacity to contextualize experience. (Author/VWL)

Examines whether certain reconstruction effects are present in child language. Points out an unexpected restriction on forward anaphora that is argued to be a case in which Principle C of the Binding Theory (Chomsky, 1981; 1986) operates at the reconstructed level. Results suggest that the ability to judge instances of forward anaphora and of…

Provides a rationale for approaching mathematics as a second language. Gives teaching suggestions: begin in early childhood, stress similarities between math and language, use spoken math before written, use authentic assessment, and focus on real-life math use. (SK)

This study analyzed the quality and quantity of intentional communication in four toddlers with Down Syndrome (DS) and eight subjects matched for either chronological or developmental age. Analysis of Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale scores indicated that DS subjects expressed different communicative functions and used different…

Investigates the role of performance limitations in children's early acquisition of verb-argument structure. Tested Valian's (1991) claims that intransitive frames are easier for children to produce early in development than transitive frames, because they do not require a direct object argument. (Author/VWL)

Two empirical studies set out explore the relation between breadth and depth of word knowledge and to link these concepts with language acquisition and frequency of language input. The studies found that there was no conceptual distinction between breadth and depth of vocabulary, and that breadth and depth were affected by the same factors for…