Examined processes by which 4- and 5-year-olds initiate, organize, and maintain language play interactions. Found that as children voice incongruities of greater proportion, the emotional climate of play is heightened and ingenious verbal representations are provoked. Identified developmental features of hyperbolic language play. Contextualized…

Two studies examined the relationship between phonological sensitivity and 5-year-olds' acquisition of new words that systematically differed in the familiarity of their sound structures. Found that phonological sensitivity was related to pair-associated learning of phonologically unfamiliar, but not familiar, words. Following phonological…

Presents fine-grained longitudinal analyses of one child's language production over the period of change from single to multiword utterances. (Author/VWL)

Examines the influence of exposure to literary Arabic of preschool children on their reading comprehension of literary Arabic stories in grades 1 and 2. Indicates better reading comprehension results for the children who were exposed to literary Arabic than for the children who were exposed only to spoken Arabic. (SC)

Novel word learning in three conditions (signed only, spoken only, signed and spoken combined) was compared for young children (N=10) with Down syndrome and mental-age matched controls. No group differences in frequency of imitations or productions were obtained. The frequency of imitations was highest in the combined condition. In the combined…

A study involving eight toddlers (aged 22 months) with hearing loss found significant correlations between the children's receptive vocabulary sources and other subscales of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory, as well as other measures of language, aspects of nonverbal cognition, and an assessment of symbolic play skills. (Contains…

A study involving 19 children with hearing impairments found that those who developed intelligible speech by 36 months had at 16-23 months a high frequency of vocal utterances, a high proportion of vocal utterances that included intelligible true words, a large consonant inventory, and a high percentage of intonational utterances. (Contains…

Examines two issues concerning the acquisition of grammatical morphemes: (1) How is the acquisition of grammatical morphemes influenced by prosodic and phonological characteristics of the language being learned? and (2) What sorts of prosodic and phonological properties do grammatical morphemes have that might aid children in applying particular…

A review of studies of word learning by normal adults and children, neuropsychological patients, and special development populations provides evidence that the phonological loop plays a crucial role in learning the novel phonological forms of new words, suggesting that the phonological loop stores unfamiliar sound patterns while more permanent…

Examines whether bilingual 2-year-olds have differentiated phonological systems, and if so, whether there are crosslinguistic influences between them. English-speaking monolingual, French-speaking monolingual, and French-English bilingual children participated in a nonsense-word repetition task. Syllable omissions/truncations were analyzed for…

Considers the much-debated markedness and structural status of word-initial /s/-sequences in English by examining the development of a 3.5-year-old male who has a phonological disorder. (Author/VWL)

Comparison of ages at which typically developing infants and infants with Down syndrome achieved vocal and motor milestones found that rhythmic behaviors (canonical babbling, hand-banging) were associated with each other and somewhat delayed in Down syndrome infants. Postural behaviors (stepping, standing, sitting, creeping) were also associated…

A study of J. Locke's theory of specific language impairment (SLI) found that children (n=10) with SLI who were limited to single-word utterances showed deficits in their lexical comprehension, supporting Locke's proposal. A second study found that children with SLI who had reached the grammatical stage of development showed age-appropriate…

Discusses how the talking drum has been a viable cultural voice for many West and Central African cultures in the acquisition of literacy. Emphasizes musical character of tonal languages and the use of the talking drum for literacy purposes. Proposes research questions regarding function and use of music and language; describes role of the talking…

The Home Tutor Scheme is an Australian program that delivers tutoring in migrants' homes, assisting them with resettlement. Volunteer tutor training includes orientation to the migrant experience, cross-cultural awareness, needs-based teaching, adult learning principles, and use of language in contexts relevant to learners. (SK)