Research into the psychology of perception can uncover important discoveries for more efficient learning. There must be increased understanding of the processing of input and the pre-processing of output for improved language instruction. Educators must at the present time be extremely wary of basing what they do in the foreign-language classroom…

This document contains ideas for teaching English as a second language to young children from varied language backgrounds. Several visual aids are discussed: the object box, pictorial games, the felt board and experience chart, action games, and instructional pictures. (VM)

Children and adults speaking English, Hungarian, and Italian were asked to describe sets of pictures which manipulated the pragmatic category of givenness. The working hypothesis was that there exist rule-governed relations between the perception of certain categorical aspects of the communicative situation and the use of certain conventional…

Discusses the value of classifying the errors adult language learners make and of comparing them to errors made by children. It is suggested that teachers correct student errors in the same way parents correct children's errors in order to encourage successful learning. (CFM)

Examines some aspects of English and Lebanese-Arabic adult responses to child answers, exploring the way the use of preferred communication strategies reflects culturally based assumptions about learning and guiding learning. The article argues that adults who regularly deal with young children develop preferred interactive strategies deriving…

Examined whether there is an earlier developmental stage than 2 years of age when bilingual children do not use their languages in pragmatically differentiated ways. Analyses of recordings of four French-English bilingual children in Canada during free play sessions with their mothers and fathers suggest a stage very early in development when…

Models the spread of linguistic change by taking account of the ages of the acquirers and transmitters of change. The article focuses on three interlocutor combinations: parent-infant/young child, peer group-preadolescent and older adolescent/adult-adolescent. Findings suggest that borrowings are the easiest to acquire, while lexically…

Examines children's uses of nominal determiners ("local markings") and utterance structure ("global markings") to introduce new referents through the use of narratives elicited from preschoolers, elementary school students and adults in English, French, German and Mandarin Chinese. Findings reveal that local markings emerge first, and local and…

The strengths and weaknesses that characterize language tests and measures used with young school-aged children are reviewed. Suggestions are given to assist school psychologists in testing children formally and informally and in working in conjunction with speech-language pathologists. (SLD)

Reports findings regarding home language environments of children in the longitudinal Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development project. Data about family practices concerning book reading, toy play, elicited reports, and mealtime conversations were gathered. Cases support a multi-componential view of language. (BB)

Reviews past and present research on early communication and language intervention at the Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, presenting three premises that inform most of the Kennedy Center's research on the issue, summarizing seven lines of contemporary research by Kennedy Center investigators that influence the development of…

Examined 2-year-olds' language acquisition with an emphasis on the agency and intentionality of the child. Concluded that development depends on the child's expression of intentionality by actions (performance), the essential tension between the child's engagement and effort, and the integration of linguistic, cognitive, and social aspects of the…

Illustrates how applied semiotics can uncover common assumptions about particular teaching practices for students with disabilities, examining microtechniques that purport to fully integrate children with disabilities into regular education programs but that can empower or disempower them. Quality inclusion requires teachers to focus on social…

A 5-year longitudinal study examined the relations among home literacy experience, language, and literacy development in a middle-class sample. Findings indicate that those with highest exposure to reading aloud at home demonstrated advantages in spelling, decoding, and alphabet knowledge through grade 3. Recommendations urge frequent home…

The professional practices concerning children's questions in the welfare clinic, the day care center, the school and the library in Finland are discussed in this paper. Each institution's historical background and the implicit and explicit concepts of children affecting professional behavior are analyzed. The research data include legal and…