The third of four documents reviews research on assessment in three domains (receptive language skills, expressive language skills, and perceptual and cognitive processes) as the most likely to predict subsequent language development of young children who have yet to speak their first word. Section II focuses on assessment of hearing sensitivity…

Writing instruction today emphasizes the rules and conventions of rhetorical analysis and thus tends to isolate the students' personalities from their use of language. To be effective, writing instruction must begin with the exploration of events and issues that determine experience and with the ideas formed from attempts to understand life. One…

Presented primarily for use with educable mentally retarded and learning disabled children are approximately 100 activities for language development through the auditory channel. Activities are grouped under the following three areas: receptive skills (auditory decoding, auditory memory, and auditory discrimination); expressive skills (auditory…

Because learning to read is based on the ability to sift and organize sensory input, it is important for teachers and curriculum planners to know of the sorts of language experiences which develop reception and, subsequently, reading skills. Research on the effects of visual and auditory presentation of information and on early sensory experience…

Discusses Michael Canale's paper, "Considerations in the Testing of Reading and Listening Proficiency," focusing on the third section, "Suggestions for improvements in receptive language testing." Considers such areas as: (1) level descriptions for academic use, (2) item and item types, and (3) validation. (SED)

Advocates an approach to second language learning based on Krashen's "Implicit Learning" model. Emphasizes comprehension training in preparation for productive skills learning, as a stress-free, highly motivating instructional strategy. Discusses results obtained with this approach in a variety of foreign languages at several schools across the…

This study investigated the validity of using facilitated communication with individuals with autism (n=6) or profound cognitive impairments (n=6) on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) when facilitators were screened from visual and auditory stimuli. Results do not validate the use of facilitated communication with the PPVT-R or…

The relationship between parent-child interactions and early literacy skills in children (ages 1-3) for 27 families living in low-income households was examined. Results found child language, parent language, emotional tone, joint attention, parental guidance, and parental responsivity behaviors were strongly related to later receptive vocabulary,…

This study examined the associations between the use of after-school care arrangements and adolescent competencies in 60 young Canadian adolescents. Findings revealed that, compared to those not participating, early adolescents participating in after-school care between 5 and 13 years obtained higher academic and social competency scores based on…

A study examined language skills in 44 pediatric cochlear implant users. All participants received implants before age 6 and were programmed with state-of-the-art stimulation strategies (Continuous Interleaved Sampler or Spectral Peak) since the day of initial stimulation. Postimplantation language development proceeded at a pace that was not…

A study investigated whether differences in working memory could account for variance in word recognition and receptive vocabulary skills of children (ages 5-16) using oral communication (n=32) and total communication (n=29). A contribution from working memory was observed only for the span tasks that incorporated an auditory processing component.…

A study compared the changes in students with moderate mental retardation in two school settings (segregated and semi-integrated) in intellectual development, adaptive behavior, receptive language, and academic achievement. While both groups gained in some areas, greater gains were found in the semi-integrated population. (MSE)

A project called "Show-Me Bedtime Reading" explored the effects of regular one-to-one evening reading and signing sessions on the development of expressive and receptive language skills of students with deafness. Test scores indicated the positive influence of individualized reading on the development of English competence. Learning strategies…

This study of 34 bilingual Spanish/English children (ages 9-13) revealed the influence of a codeswitching or language mixing factor in performance on the Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody-Adaptacion Hispanoamericana, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, their translations, and the combined results. Both combined/bilingual instruments'…

Thirty-four children (ages 5-16) born to alcoholic mothers were assessed on measures of intelligence, reading, receptive vocabulary, memory for sentences, visual memory, and visual-motor integration. The children were found to be least deficient on intellectual measures and most deficient on memory for sentences and silent and oral readings.…