If the question of what it is that is innate is simply left as some kind of human learning potential, this position, representative of the nativist philosophy, does not differ radically from that of behaviorists. The latter position holds that a human being starts out with a mind which is basically empty and receptive to, subject to, and the…

Evaluated was a program designed to make an early diagnosis of the emotional problems and learning disabilities of 40 preschool children, and to furnish educational interventions so that these problems might be ameliorated before the children enter formal schooling. The program centered around speech and language, perceptual-motor activities, and…

Intended for parents, the manual is for a 12 week parent education course on the mental stimulation of young handicapped children. Major objectives of the course are helping the child feel positively about himself and helping the child develop his intellectual abilities. Material reinforcements are offered parents who meet criteria for attendance,…

The test performance of 120 Anglo, black, and Chicano third- and fifth-grade children is used to demonstrate the similarities between the processes of diachronic and ontogenetic language change. The instrument used measured the range of knowledge of several grammatical structures. Analysis and interpretation of results suggested the gradual…

Paralinguistic and kinesic expression begin at birth and are essential to the development of language. Rhythm, for example, a suprasegmental event, appears to be present at birth or prior to birth. The relationship of physiology to communication is evident in the observations of extra-linguistic aspects of communication, such as movement, the use…

Describes specific changes in children's conversational abilities in early childhood, which may in turn serve to alter how their partners judge their abilities to understand. The evidence regarding the level and types of changes in adult speech to children as the child's ability changes is also addressed. (EJS)

Describes 167 documents dealing with research on bilingualism and bidialectalism; language and verbal learning; literature, humanities, and media; teacher education; testing and evaluation; and written and oral communication. (DD)

Discusses the shortcomings of the morpheme order approach in first and second language acquisition research, and proposes instead the notion of developmental sequence, drawing on examples from data on four German children learning English naturalistically. (Author/AM)

Rebuts an article that claimed to overthrow the authors' 1969 findings. It is demonstrated that the original study concerned syntactic organization and that interpretation of it as bearing on comprehension is largely unjustified. Comments on their prior work in light of new developments in child language are included. (EJS)

A longitudinal study of three children examined the relation between object permanence and language development. (Author/NCR)

Defines the concept of native speaker insight and suggests that, for the purpose of teaching English as a second language, the goal should not be native speaker insight (NSI) but NS Type 1, a reduced, adequate and attainable goal for foreign learners. (CFM)

Examined was the effect of a language development program led by a paraprofessional on the language skills of 24 severely mentally retarded institutionalized young adults. (CL)

The Regional Intervention Program (RIP) for Parents and Preschools is a language intervention program that encourages parent participation. Parents serve as language trainers for other parents, as language interventionists in the classroom, and as collectors of assessment and evaluation data, as well as communicative interactants with their own…

Describes the reading development of a child of average mental ability but with visual memory, auditory memory, and auditory discrimination problems. Concludes that instruction should be tailored to the child's level of development in order to maintain the child's positive attitudes and to progress in reading and writing achievement. (SRT)

Describes some of the components of the West German approach to beginning reading and writing instruction. (FL)