Summarizes a range of theoretical approaches to language acquisition. Argues that language representations emerge from interactions at all levels from brain to society. Connectionism, which provides a set of computational tools for exploring the conditions under which emergent properties arise, is discussed, and simulations of emergence of…

Discusses the subject/object drop pattern found in child Korean and makes a cross-linguistic comparison among seven languages. Findings are most consistent with Valian's observation that early grammars show a high degree of sensitivity to characteristics of and frequency distributions in input. (Author/VWL)

This normative study of the acquisition of Arabic by 180 normally developing children (ages 2 to 6) in Jordan examined: (1) mastery of consonants by nine age levels; (2) ages of customary production, mastery, and acquisition of phonemes; (3) accuracy of consonants as related to position in word; and (4) differences in ages of acquisition between…

Three children with developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) identified syllables in words, judged intrasyllabic sound positions, and constructed syllable shapes within monosyllabic frames. Results suggest that DAS children demonstrate an apparent breakdown in the ability to perceive "syllableness" and to access and compare syllable…

Notes that names are the first words most children write and that learning to write their name can be highly motivating for preschoolers. Addresses: why preschool children should be encouraged to write their names; organizing and facilitating the sign-in process at school; how children develop their ability to write their names; and the benefits…

Examines NP-type nouns, nominals that alternate between count noun and noun phrase constructions with resulting changes in their semantic interpretation. (Author/VWL)

Proposes that current research on language socialization be expanded beyond childhood, or even adolescence, to consider communicative development as a process that extends across the life span. Perhaps more than ever before, adults find themselves called on to master new communications skills as they adapt to new workplace or social situations and…

In this study, six percent of a 2-year-old child's spontaneous utterances in six 3-hour samples were identified as one of three expressive metalinguistic utterance types: interrogatives, hypothesis tests, and evocative utterances. Evocative utterances were used most frequently. The subject used the strategies to seek nouns 78 percent of the time.…

Investigated toddlers' acquisition and use of nonsense verbs in passive and active voice. Children used various strategies to answer questions designed to elicit voice changes but did not usually change verb construction. When passive and active constructions were primed, older children were able to use an active-introduced verb in passive…

Examined effects of the day care environment on Singaporean preschoolers in 16 day care centers as assessed by the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. Found that day care quality as measured by the total score and specific subscales was related to children's language development, especially verbal fluency. Effects were evident even when…

Considers Boysson-Bardies' book a thorough and thought-provoking description of early language development and the research related to how infants learn to talk and respond to speech. Notes the value of the book's discussion of cross-cultural variation in vocabulary development and individual differences related to special education. (JPB)

Review of research on recess shows how its presence or absence affects children's brain development, health and physical development, attention, memory, social and emotional adjustment, language development, and classroom behavior. Despite demonstrated benefits, recess is endangered by pressures on schools to increase achievement. (Contains 52…

Presents observations of two community-sponsored summer programs in which storytelling was used as a vehicle for expanding children's existing oral language and developing their literacy abilities. Describes how children first participated as attentive listeners to the professional storyteller, then became creative retellers, then used story…

Young Portuguese-speaking children have been reported to produce more vowel- and syllable-oriented spellings than have English speakers. To investigate the extent and source of such differences, we analyzed children's vocabulary and found that Portuguese words have more vowel letter names and a higher vowel-consonant ratio than do English words.…

The present research examined the quality of the phonological representations of French children with specific language impairment (SLI) and those with normal language development (NLD). Twenty-five children with SLI and 50 children with NLD matched on lexical age level participated in an auditory lexical decision task. The observations gathered…