A comparison of vocal development in deaf and hearing infants indicates that well-formed syllable production is established in the first 10 months of life by hearing infants but not by deaf infants, suggesting that audition plays an important role in vocal development. (PCB)

The article discusses the links between storytelling skills and history, with particular focus on Black History Month, and also lists resources and describes storytelling activities. (CB)

Describes a study of the use of the terms "will" and "gonna" in the speech of two three-year-old girls. The results suggest that one of the functions of "will" and "gonna" is to impart different causal relations to the two practices of "undertaking" and "planning." (HTH)

It is suggested that students of French should be exposed to the richness of a living language by introducing them to all possible outputs and underlining the importance of the interjection in oral discourse. A number of common interjections and usage situations are outlined, and some teaching methods are discussed. (MSE)

Reviews the concept that the melodic features of language play a major role in a child's acquisition of both oral and book language. (FL)

Describes teaching methods using videotape recorder in which students are taped acting out dialogs. Then tapes are shown to, analyzed, and evaluated by the class. Finally, students write an essay on one aspect of the tape. (BK)

Believes current audiolingual approach to foreign language teaching lacks opportunities for spontaneous speech. Author shows why this is and offers suggestions such as oral exercises and games to compensate. (Author/BK)

Examines the relationship between relevant clinical symptoms and the predictability of language utterances in schizophrenia. Specifically, investigates the sensitivity of the Cloze procedure to various modes of language response, attempting to detect differences between language samples written by schizophrenics and controls. Analyzes experimental…

Examines the language and authority of textbooks as they relate to oral discourse, ritualized speech, and literacy as an archival function. Points out that texts serve an important archival function in preserving knowledge from which rules of thought and action may be derived. (JMF)

Suggests that a neutral conversation involving likes, dislikes, etc. requiring simple patterns is more useful for the first meeting of a multinational class of EFL learners than the usual process whereby each student introduces him or herself to the group. (BK)

Presents methods for conducting second language conversation classes for adult learners which develop both fluency and accuracy. Describes two types of functions such as a monologue that each student will deliver and forms for asking for more information. (BK)

Describes experiments involving responses of language disordered children to sentences that can carry directive import. Results indicate that language disordered children are qualitatively like normal children with regard to early response behavior. These children do have more difficulty in generating informing responses and utilizing information…

Reviews studies that have investigated the relationship between reading comprehension and the frequency of occurrence of syntactic structures in children's oral language. Shows that children have difficulty comprehending written materials that contain unfamiliar syntactic structures. Discusses the instructional implications of the findings.…

Discusses the present state of assessing students' oral language proficiency. Includes a comparison of achievement and proficiency test formats, an explanation of the ratings system, and a discussion on the need for a common standard. The adoption of frequency ratings by the academic community is a way off. (PJM)

Includes a summary of measurement in oral communication, the identification of two emerging focuses in measurement, and a description of a measurement strategy. (DD)