Presents data supporting the belief that reading stories to children is particularly beneficial and explains that hearing stories read aloud familiarizes children with the language of books and with the characteristic narrative structures they will meet in school. (JL)

Illustrates how children constantly solve communication puzzles in the course of language acquisition and offers suggestions for teachers and parents to assist children in their understanding of language. (HTH)

In a small experiment, normal and educationally subnormal primary children had no difficulty making negative referential descriptions in natural contexts, when their attention was drawn to the context by the experimenter. Awareness of context related to mental maturity, and there was a developmental trend in descriptive forms. (Author/SJL)

Studies the simultaneous language development in American Sign Language and spoken English by a hearing girl. Findings show: (1) a mixture of oral and manual babbling, (2) a code-switching ability across modalities, and (3) a single syntactic system incorporating rules from both languages but with two separate lexicons. (Author/PJM)

Focusing on the question, "Can chimpanzees produce new sentences or merely sequences?" Terrace describes his efforts to teach the chimpanzee Nim to communicate through sign language. From his results, and the Gardners' experiments with Washoe, he concludes that no proof yet exists that chimpanzees can use language as humans do. (SJL)

Replies to McLaughlin's (l978) critique of the Krashen (1975, 1977) Monitor Model of language learning, presenting rebuttals to major attacks, followed by a discussion of minor issues. (AM)

Results of a 10-item oral language test presented only orally, orally with pictures, and orally with concrete aids replicate earlier research findings showing that bilingual children manipulate language more easily than unilinguals. Unilinguals' errors were due to incomplete development while bilinguals' were caused by that and first-language…

Contrasts what is taught by child language theorists and the traditional speech communication educators and suggests a new curricula which will better prepare children as competent communicators. Outlines needs and methods of disseminating new information so that it will be incorporated into the language arts curricula. (JMF)

Reports part of a continuing project to develop a theory of children's first-language acquisition using computer modeling techniques. Notes the correspondence of structures formed by the computer program with recognized structures in English. Discusses anomalies in the program's performance. (RL)

The pragmatic and semantic categories used by Ss varied across age groups. Results are discussed with regard to age, expressive modality, mean length of utterances, and hearing loss. There was much variation among these parameters in communicative development across Ss. (Author/DLS)

Social and communicative behavior of 28 preschoolers, some developmentally delayed, was classified under various conditions by four observers. Inter-observer agreements from observations of developmentally delayed and normal children were compared. No significant differences were found. Results are discussed in terms of reliability problems in…

Argues that the extent of a child's sense of story influences the child's prediction of syntax and comprehension. Suggests ways for teachers to encourage children to develop their sense of story. (RL)

Surveys recent research in language acquisition, emphasizing the views of M. A. K. Halliday. (RL)

Examines recent attempts to explain children's word use and selection through recourse to information theory. It is concluded that information theory cannot account for the complexities involved in early word selection. (AM)

Reports on a study investigating the relationship between children's linguistic environment and language acquisition. In particular, the study examined the effect of mothers' speech on subsequent child speech. (Author/AM)