A list of 1,036 terms and definitions used in native and second language acquisition and instruction, linguistics, language testing, and bicultural-multicultural education, including identical items with different meanings, is presented. The terms were derived from manual searches of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics and ERIC…

The influence of maternal use of verbs upon a child's developing rule system for verb usage was examined. Previously reported data (Brown, 1983) on mother-to-child speech were analyzed. Thirteen different contexts for verb use were identified. There was a close resemblance between the way the child and his mother distributed their uses of verbs.…

The paper examines aspects of effective language intervention with autistic children. An overview is presented about the nature of language, its perception and comprehension, and the production of speech-language. Assessment strategies are considered. The second part of the paper analyzes traditional and communications-based intervention programs.…

The paper describes an approach in which games were planned to provide instruction for three severely handicapped children (5-6 years old) with few leisure, social, or academic skills and many aberrant behaviors. The first of two games involved a language program to teach verbal interactions, picture identification, and picture matching. The…

The paper examines the suprasegmental aspects of speech and focuses on the benefits of music and movement to facilitate language development in handicapped children. The paper discusses the current thinking of suprasegmental functions of intonation, stress, and rhythm as the foundation for the organization of speech communication. Strategies for…

Three experiments investigated the processes by which 2-year-olds acquire the language to express category hierarchies. The first experiment studied how children use current linguistic knowledge to constrain the potential meanings of new words. This experiment compared interpretations of new words given to objects the children could already name…

To compare elicited imitation performance across two conditions (no context and a verbal pragmatic context), nine language disordered children (5 to 7 years old) were administered Carrow's Elicited Language Inventory in a standardized form and an experimental form using discourse cues. Results showed no signficant differences in linguistic…

The paper describes the Oral Language Disorders Classroom (OLDC), an approach providing intensive speech and language therapy and academic support to students with severe communication disorders in a primary classroom setting. The OLDC emphasizes preparation for quick return to the regular classroom. General school curriculum is modified and…

In an examination of ways maternal training can influence children's language use, 20 mother-child dyads (10 with Down's Syndrome children and 10 with nonhandicapped children) were videotaped during play sessions. Training centered on recognition and response to child intents, techniques for mapping language onto the content which the child is…

Sentences produced by children and adults in telling stories are analyzed, with particular emphasis on developmental trends in sentence length, the degree of cohesion between clauses, and the internal coherence of sentence content. Subjects for the study were 10 adults and 60 Japanese children in six different age groups. Each subject was…

The problems of fashioning a theory of language fall into two broad areas: (1) the neurophysiological correlates of language behavior are still little understood, and (2) the enormous amount of data on language behavior that has been gathered by researchers is subject to varying and differing interpretations. In spite of these problems, the…

A 9-year-old autistic boy with language comprehension skills but minimal meaningful expressive language was exposed to a language training program. The program began with imitation of sounds and progressed to discrimination training, responding to his name, and partial verbalization. Positive reinforcement (including food and a revolving light)…

The role of the abstract triconsonantal root in the acquisition of Moroccan Arabic was investigated. Evidence from recorded speech samples of 32 Moroccan children between the ages of 3 and 6 is used to demonstrate that the abstract root plays a central role in both the nominal and verbal acquisition of the lexicon of Semitic languages and that the…

Ten Down's Syndrome children (all 3-4 years old) and four nonhandicapped children and their mothers participated in a study of children's ability to respond to questions. Interactions of each of the 14 mother-child dyads were recorded on videotape and mother-child vocalizations transcribed. The number of appropriate, inappropriate, and…

This study analyzed the acquisition of the interactional competence in an environment where children used two or three languages every day. Two aspects were examined: the acquisition of culturemes such as thanking and greeting, and the comprehension of indirect requests. The bilingual children observed were eight Swedish-Estonian children, six…