Stability of the Early Screening Profiles (ESP), developed by P. Harrison, was examined with a sample of 23 non-handicapped preschool children (14 females and 9 males) ranging in age from 3 years 0 months to 6 years 0 months at the time of initial testing. The sample was drawn from a rural/suburban community in the midwest with a predominantly…

In addressing questions of semantics and grammar in child language, this study focuses on the generation of speech activity. Specific attention is on the formation and development of speech units during speech generation. The study looks at the process by which preschool children master various linguistic items and categories using semantics,…

This digest explains how functional language instruction can be made useful for persons with moderate to severe disabilities who are also culturally and linguistically different. It further explains how vocabulary and cultural information of the Spanish-speaking student can be included in functional language instruction for students who are from…

The five papers in this section of the TESOL volume examine the nature of language learning, characteristics of different language learners, the nature of the supportive environment for language development, and the differences which exist between first and second language patterns of interaction. The following articles are included: (1)…

The parent's guide reviews normal speech and language development and discusses ways in which parents of young children with language problems facilitate that development. Terms such as speech, communication, and receptive and expressive language are defined, and stages in receptive/expressive language development are charted. Implications for…

Examined imitative recall for sentences conforming to the grammatical rules of standard English versus those suggested for nonstandard (black) English. Subjects included black and white third and fourth grade children grouped according to socioeconomic background and attendance at either racially segregated or intergrated schools. (SDH)

This article discusses the author's use of a performance-based evaluation in his fifth grade Spanish class in a K-5 public elementary school located in Princeton, New Jersey. The author realized the need to break the old testing paradigm and discover a new way of demonstrating student language acquisition since the traditional tests did not seem…

The school speech pathologist's function as a member of an interdisciplinary team responsible for diagnostic and prescriptive program planning and placement for children with language-learning problems is described. (LH)

The study evaluated the effects of an auditory monitoring and feedback approach on an adolescent boy's schizophrenic language patterns. The approach attempted to increase the subject's auditory awareness and to train him to identify and correct the linguistic errors of others and, eventually, of himself. Language samples were analyzed at baseline…

This paper focuses on practical activities for incorporating children's literature and thematic activities in the curriculum to stimulate children's thinking and language. The paper includes a review of the current literature about literature-based programs and a thematic unit on dinosaurs developed across the curriculum at the kindergarten level.…

A study investigated the effects of symbolic play treated as a mediator for increasing language comprehension and facilitating oral language growth. The study included two aspects of language: language comprehension and language development. Independent variables were forms of play--puppet action, body action, abstract (imagined) action, and no…

Noting research suggesting that something more than rote memorization is involved in the process of spelling, this paper describes effective instructional strategies to help students improve their spelling abilities. Following an introduction on the memorization/cognition camps in spelling research, the paper discusses current, but less effective,…

The physical and neurobehavioral findings at 3 years of age for 39 children born to mothers on methadone- maintenance and 23 children born to drug-free comparison mothers are reported. The methadone children had a higher incidence of head circumferences less than the third percentile, nystagmus/strabismus, and otitis media. No differences were…

The Kindergarten Oral Language Project (KOLP) is a program of the Los Angeles (California) Unified School District. The program is based on Teaching Activities for Language Knowledge and is designed to improve oral language skills of the kindergarten population, identify students at risk for language and speech problems, and decrease incidences of…

Intended for teachers in Tasmania, this booklet focuses on guidelines for developing a language program for young children. Chapters are entitled: How Language Competence Grows; Language, Thought and Feelings Are Independent; The Child's Language Development Depends on Our Responses; and Growth of Understanding. The philosophy presented in the…