There is an increased incidence of language-learning disabilities with dyslexia by school age. As infants and toddlers, these children have neuromotor and speech dysfunction within their first year. This article postulates that the language and motor dysfunction is caused by infantile presentation of developmental dyspraxia rather than a…

Parents of 153 children with autism completed a questionnaire on early childhood behaviors of concern and age of onset. Parents identified the following concerns: gross motor difficulties; social awareness deficits; communication problems; and unusual preoccupations. There was a significant interval between parents first noticing abnormalities and…

Surveys of 105 U.S.-born, Chinese-American and Korean-American students in southern California high schools found that those who adapted to the mainstream culture while maintaining their heritage language and culture had higher academic achievement than those who wholly adopted mainstream values and lifestyles. (Contains 21 references.) (SV)

Eight participants with Asperger syndrome (AS) (ages 10-41) were assessed in the following areas: the pragmatics of language and communication; verbal and visual memory; visual-spatial abilities; and bimanual motor skills. Results confirmed the close similarity in the neuropsychologic profiles of non-verbal learning disabilities syndrome and AS.…

This article provides background and a description of person-centered planning (PCP) based on process, components, and outcomes and examines each in relationship to working with culturally and linguistically diverse families. Vignettes illustrate how professionals can be sensitive to differences in culture and language within the process.…

Explored efforts, within an action research study of a 3- year Inservice Education and Training (INSET) program, to implement reflective approaches in training unqualified and underqualified elementary teachers in Namibia. Results found that western approaches to teacher reflection could not be used productively with Namibian teachers unless there…

Provides fully developed library media activities designed for specific curriculum units. Curriculum areas represented include reading and language arts (proverbs and fables, letters of the alphabet, and biographies); science (the study of Gregor Mendel and genetics, oil resources); and social studies (global awareness). (LRW)

Examines data concerning computer literacy of incoming freshmen at Bentley College and discusses changes that are emerging in their computer backgrounds. High school computing resources are discussed; programing languages taught are examined; student experiences with computers and programing, drill and practice, games, and software are described;…

Examines the role of play as a composing strategy for the development of children's writing abilities. Finds that boys use play more extensively than girls, and that boys balance their use of play and marked control (gisting and evaluating) while girls rely on a marked control strategy more than on play. (KEH)

Investigates how children represent meaning in their response to stories through listening, speaking, reading, drawing, and writing. Finds no one particular language process to be exclusively used by children to convey meaning in response to story. Discovers sequential and simultaneous linkage patterns of language process modality. (KEH)

Teachers and students must build semantic connections between words of the text and already familiar ways of speaking, integrating the formal language of the subject into their own ways of speaking. This article demonstrates how classroom dialogue can help make textbook language part of the language of the students. (IAH)

Similes and metaphors were extracted from over 2,000 papers by students in grades 4, 8, 12, and the third year of college to study the effects of age, grade, sex, mode, and writing competence on these figures of writing. Students worked with more abstract forms as they grew older. (SLD)

Describes a teaching approach successful with 1960s at-risk students, in which literature was carefully selected for readability, interest, brevity, and literary quality. Notes that all activities were literature-based and that discussion was short and text focused. Explains that each lesson was a miniature language arts curriculum and that…

Offers several suggestions for activities to be used with Big Books, including: tracking print, thinking along, cloze activities, and examining text features. (MG)

Gives a history of the whole language movement. Looks at the early use of the term "whole language." Explores influences from philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and education on development of whole language. Discusses influences from early educational movements in the U.S., England, and New Zealand. (Author/BB)