This pamphlet is the first in a series of ten stemming from the view that language is central to learning, that teachers can gain insights into their work and into learning by examining the language of the classroom, and that current language theory can be the means to such insights. The pamphlet contains a description of an informal study…

The author considers it essential that linguists develop the means to communicate their findings to those who may need them. The applications of linguistics have spread far beyond the traditional field of foreign language study to native language acquisition, social functions of speech differences, literacy, language standardization,…

The acquisition of the consonant system by a child acquiring Mexican-Spanish as her native language is described. During the earliest stages (from 1;7 to 2;1 years of age), the data showed several phenomena that could best be accounted for by assuming a central role for the word as the basic unit being acquired. The evidence for the centrality of…

A study was conducted of the capacity of sixth-grade children to communicate accurately paralinguistic affect. A dependent measure indicating the accuracy of paralinguistic communication of affect was obtained by comparing the level of affect which children intended to encode with ratings of vocal inflections from adult judges. Four independent…

This paper presents a "Language Background Questionnaire" designed for use in gathering information on the home linguistic environment of bilingual children. The questionnaire probes a series of demographic and environmental variables which define a bilingual child's sociolinguistic milieu. Instructions are given for calculating the overall…

A variety of topics are discussed in this publication which has been put together for use in parent education classes and training sessions of day care personnel. The design may be used as a source of stimulation and information in working with parent groups. Section I discusses how to listen so that children will respond, to the "language of…

This paper explores the relation between the communicative and categorical functions of language and the acquisition of language production. Three major factors in language acquisition are communication, ability for representation and the process of categorization. This paper offers evidence that a sudden and dramatic increase in lexical skill…

This paper analyzes short stories written in English and French by French immersion pupils at the Grade 3 level. Their English writing skills are compared to those of Grade 3 pupils in a regular English program. Aspects of their writing skills which are examined include vocabulary skills, technical skills (punctuation, capitalization and…

Because socialization in terms of language behavior is the pivot for all other socialization, great emphasis is being placed in the linguistic determinants of cognition, and the influence of parents' language on child language and cognition. The same life conditions that foster dialect differences may be presumed to lead to semantic differences.…

In this monograph, the language and pedagogical concepts embodied in the Tucson Early Education Model are used to develop a systematized method of natural language learning. It is hypothesized that young children in school continually resystematize their language, and that conscious and systematic modeling by the teacher should accelerate this…

On the basis of experimental data, the author makes the following observations: (1) the basic encoding processes in speech, the schemas of order, first produce elementary underlying sentences; (2) underlying sentence structure is the controlling step in the organization of speech; (3) underlying sentence structure plays a central role in…

This document, containing 15 articles and 2 abstracts, is a report on the current status and progress of speech research. The following topics are investigated: phonological fusion, phonetic prerequisites for first-language learning, auditory and phonetic levels of processing, auditory short-term memory in vowel perception, hemispheric…

This resource document presents research on first and second language acquisition, home environments, and other cultural factors that affect the cognitive or affective development of bilingual minority-group children, such as child-rearing practices, styles of learning and coping, and values and attitudes. Sections are devoted to the nature of…

A child's language reflects his thought processes and his level of development. Motor, emotional, and language development all have a direct relationship to the child's cognitive functioning--each follows the pattern of moving from gross and loosely differentiated states to refined and differentiated systems. Research in early childhood education…

This book treats the skills of language which are basic to all learning. Chapter 1 begins with an explanation of language and its stages of development. It also describes the kinds of interaction the child experiences with people and the impact of this interaction/on the child's self-image. Other sections of this chapter discuss children as poets,…