This research explored the defining characteristics of first- and third-grade children in conceptualizing 17 American kin terms. The data indicate that even when children were able to identify a relationship, they did not all base their identification on the same attributes. (Author/RM)

The written compositions of 11-year-olds in Great Britain's National Child Development Study were analyzed using the T-unit length as a measure of syntactic maturity and composition length as a measure of productivity. Results are discussed in relation to cognitive and linguistic development. (Author/RM)

The momentum toward reform of science education brings pressures on schools and teachers to evaluate or otherwise account for children's progress in science. Although this interest can bring with it a certain amount of rush to judgment, it brings an opportunity to explore assessment alternatives that are fundamentally different from conventional…

Urges classroom teachers to examine the current language research and dialect discoveries in order to teach effectively.

A systematic language-learning program in the language arts is proposed which contains three proponents for teaching children how to read: language evaluation, oral language, and written language. (CS)

Based on a series of lectures given at the Summer Language Program, University of California at Santa Cruz, August 1972; translated from the English; special issue on "Changing Linguistics." (DD)

Reviewed research on the effect of speech errors or dialect on children's spelling errors. Concluded evidence did not indicate clear relationship between speech and spelling. Speech therapy or dialect therapy not recommended as spelling technique. (ST)

Children encounter differences in language environments at home and at school; the school's role is discussed in language education. (JB)

Analysis showed that the majority of subjects applied a coherent strategy to three-word utterances presented in different word orders, and confirmed the existence of two primitive strategies. (Authors/CB)

Urges teachers, in helping children acquire language power, to provide opportunities for the students to enlarge their experiences and then help them find appropriate words to clarify and organize thinking about that experience. (MM)