Objective: To examine the effects of early maternal and paternal depression on child expressive language at age 24 months and the role that parent-to-child reading may play in this pathway. Participants and methods: The 9-month and 24-month waves from a national prospective study of children and their families, the Early Childhood Longitudinal…

Language samples elicited through a picture description task were recorded from 38 adolescents and adults with Williams syndrome (WS) and one control group matched on age, and another matched on age, IQ, and vocabulary knowledge. The samples were coded for use of various types of inferences, dramatic devices, and verbal fillers; acoustic analyses…

This article reviews research on speech and language abilities in people with cri du chat syndrome (CCS). CCS is a rare genetic disorder, with an estimated incidence between 1 in 15,000 and 1 in 50,000 births, resulting from a deletion on the short arm of chromosome 5. In general, individuals have delayed speech and language development, and some…

Adaptation of internationally adopted children to another culture and language has not been studied extensively. This study followed four infant girls from China during the 1st year postadoption, measuring vocabulary, gestural, social, communication, and symbolic behavior development each month. The children were also tested at 2 and 3 years…

Purpose: The Kentucky Aphasia Test (KAT) is an objective measure of language functioning for persons with aphasia. This article describes materials, administration, and scoring of the KAT; presents the rationale for development of test items; reports information from a pilot study; and discusses the role of the KAT in aphasia assessment. Method:…

The imperative need for the editing of a dictionary of Latin Americanisms should be a cooperative effort between both individuals and language academies. (Text is in Spanish.) (Author/DS)

Comparison of referential first mentions in narrative reports by 40 mildly mentally retarded adults and 20 nonretarded adults indicated that mentally retarded speakers made significantly fewer first mentions and significantly more errors in the form of first mentions than did nonretarded speakers. (Author/DB)

The study examined differences in the distribution of spectral energy among four types of infant vocalizations via computerized spectral analyses. The mean spectral energy (MSE) of "pain induced" cries was significantly higher than those of "fussy" and "hungry" cries, and the MSE of all three cries was higher than…

The effect of semantic grouping on confrontation-naming performances of 16 fluent and 10 nonfluent aphasic adults was examined. Performances were not uniformly facilitated in one naming condition over the other. Some patients, however, did appear to display performance discrepancies between the two conditions. (Author/CL)

S. S. Curry, famous advocate of the speech "expression movement," is studied in light of his use of the tenets of elocution. (CH)

The study investigated the reaction times in the fluent speech utterances of 20 adult stutterers and 20 nonstutterers. Results indicated that reaction times for longer utterances and for utterances requiring minimal preparation were longer for stutterers than for nonstutterers, suggesting stutterers may have difficulty in motor programing of…

Reflective practice may be enriched by an expressive approach in which practice is portrayed rather than analyzed. Expressive approaches include empathic and intuitive phenomenology, which can assist in exploration of significant events as lived experiences. (Contains 42 references.) (SK)

Conversational speech of five children who stutter was recorded and then portions manipulated to modify interval duration and vowel duration. Results indicated that both interval and vowel durations moderately affected listeners' perception of stuttering. Generally, repetitions with short vowel and interval durations were judged as more…

This paper focuses on successes and failures in the history of technology. It attempts to assess the wisdom of possible future courses of action with regard to technology in e-learning and education.