This study investigated the linguistic characteristics of speech addressed to the child and the features of the verbal environment critical for learning language. The study focused on the prosodic and paralinguistic features of adult speech to the young child. Adult speech directed to children was compared to other kinds of systematic speech…

This longitudinal study examines the early stages of language acquisition in four first-born infants from birth to two years. Selected aspects of vocal-verbal behavior exhibited by the children and their parents were examined. Home and laboratory recordings, diaries, interviews, and developmental observation were principal data sources. Substudies…

The five essays in this collection examine the ways in which language functions in the lives of children, particularly in contexts outside the classroom. The first essay attempts to relate the actual language of children and adolescents to the rather different language characteristic of teachers and schools. The second essay examines the language…

Four papers are included in this document concerning the structure of linguistic input to children. Dan Slobin's paper, "Questions of Language Development in Cross-Cultural Perspective," suggests that children everywhere acquire basic grammatical competence in the first five or six years of life, regardless of social milieu or linguistic…

This paper describes an instrument used to assess the receptive language of children. The bilingual child is tested first in the non-dominant language. When the ceiling is reached in the non-dominant language, the tester switches to the dominant language. (The ideal situation would be to give the test in one language one day, then repeat the test…

Based on the premise that research findings about children's language acquisition might support theories about the learning of reading, this paper reviews research that has addressed the development of language production and the relationship between language ability and reading achievement. The first section of the literature review deals with…

A curriculum rationale and model which meet the constraints of what is known of communicatively-based language teaching/learning are presented. The curricula prepares non-English speaking students for higher educational experiences in the U.S. Current program rationales, communicative and interactive teaching, and issues in curriculum design are…

Fourteen brief articles focus on the young handicapped child and his family. Articles have the following titles and authors: "Elements of Early Care and Education" (W. Fowler); "Mothers and Fathers--The Special Child's Special Resources" (M. Lamb); "Child Development--Knowledge and the Special Educator" (A. Honig); "The Handicapped Child in the…

Data were collected relevant to the major decision and evaluation questions concerning the Title VII Pre-Kindergarten Program. This volume is a reference for those interested in replicating or studying the research and evaluation of this project. The instruments used to evaluate students and teachers are explained and evaluated. The Peabody…

This is a bibliography of research on bilingual/special education for children in preschool through high school. Most of the references are journal articles written within the last five years or documents available from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). Cited are works on cognitive development, language development, intelligence…

A study was conducted to determine if verbs were learned as easily as other words by primary school children. One hundred eight kindergarten children were divided into high, medium, and low I.Q. ranges and each range group was further divided--one group for each of three testing methods at each intelligence level. A list of words including 25…

This issue contains the following articles and book reviews: (1) "Teaching Language to Young Learners," by J. Dennis; (2) "Language Development through Writing," by E. Weiner and L. Smith; (3) "Communicative Interference," by L. Loveday; (4) "Challenges for Curriculum Design," by P. Knowles; (5)…

Principles of language assessment and instruction for Spanish speaking preschoolers at St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson, Arizona, are presented. Basic definitions and program model (which looks at the child's communication skills based purely on semantic content contained in spontaneous language samples) are explained. The program's theoretical bases…

The Bilingual Reading Study employs several measures of oral language proficiency: (1) a standardized oral language proficiency test, the Language Assessment Scales (LAS); (2) teacher ratings on the Student Operational Language Assessment Scale (SOLA); (3) teacher ratings on the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) Oral Language…

This paper provides counselors and social service case workers serving Indochinese refugees in northern California with guidelines for identifying, treating and making referrals of clients with emotional problems. Freud's theory of trauma neurosis and its effect on refugees' language acquisition, learning ability and job readiness are described.…