Idiomatic expressions in American English provide an important clue to the speaker's values and attitudes, many of which are represented in bipolar language (e.g., "warm hearted"-"cold blooded,""walking on air"-"feeling low"). Most bipolar idiomatic continua which predict meaning also reveal positive and negative evaluations connected with…

The study describes the Shewan Spontaneous Language Analysis (SSLA), establishes its reliability and validity, and reports on its use with 47 aphasic adults who had suffered a single unilateral occlusive cerebral vascular accident two to four weeks prior to testing and 30 normal adults. (Author/DB)

Language sample data from normal subjects (ages 40-79) were collected to determine how normal aging might affect performance on a picture description task, routinely used for assessment of aphasic individuals. Only an increase in the number of paraphasias and a decrease in communication efficiency correlated with increased age. (DB)

Performance of 15 language-impaired children (average age eight years) on a referential communication task requiring verbal encoding of novel referents was compared to performance of normally developing age-mates and language-mates. Subjects used known referent, graphic, and mixed strategies about equally with language-impaired children less…

Compared the performance of 56 children on the 11 subscales of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision. Results revealed significant differences on Receptive Speech and Expressive Language subscales, suggesting a possible differential sensitivity of the children's Luria-Nebraska to verbal and nonverbal cognitive deficits.…

Results of two experiments involving four severely handicapped preschoolers suggested that Ss could be taught rudimentary communication skills prior to the attainment of J. Piaget's sensorimotor stage 5. It was further suggested that establishment of initial labeling in an elicited training format will not necessarily generalize to either…

Raises some questions about the way children write stories and the part teachers play in their writing. (HOD)

Summarizes historical and contemporary examples of stories for children that contain a "magic element" or "oral sorcery" that complements the basic structure of beginning, consistent sequence of events, and full stop ending. (CRH)

A communication program for autistic children (three to six years old) which increased communication skills in the context of establishing reciprocal communication exchanges involving intensive modeling of verbal responses within joint activity routines and reinforcement based on fulfilling the intent of the child's communication. (Author/CL)

Hexagonal'' refers to the new vocabulary and idioms that continue to infiltrate Spanish, French, and other languages. (SK)

Suggests methods for helping children develop and maintain the art of conversation. (RB)

The Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test was administered to 56 males and 52 females from 45 to 80 months of age to investigate sex differences in the expressive vocabulary of Head Start children. Data indicated no significant sex differences. (Author/PN)

Four 17- to 21-month-old normally developing, and four 32- to 35-month-old language impaired children, classified as "referential" speakers or "expressive" speakers, produced linguistic features in clusters, and manifested play behaviors that were consistent with the children's pattern of lexical distribution. (Author/MC)