The two primary purposes of this book are to extend information about children's language learning and to look at existing notions of how children acquire language by considering what is meant by linguistic competence. The introductory chapter presents an account of two approaches to the study of language acquisition and outlines the author's…

The purpose of this study was to investigate, with underprivileged first-grade children, the efficacy of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) in teaching beginning reading and of the Peabody Language Development Kit (PLDK) in stimulating oral language and verbal intelligence. From 17 classes in nine schools, four groups, consisting of 100, 104,…

Presented is support for the existence of "Deaf English," a non-standard dialect common to the prelingually deaf; and reported is an investigation of the written English competence of deaf adolescents. In the first half of the document the author discusses the historical background of deaf education and the linguistic and cognitive abilities of…

The technique to be described here was developed to meet the need for a language production measure. It samples a variety of morphemic and syntactic patterns, and avoids the problems of imitation and of free speech analysis. The production test is administered in a sentence-completion format. A very brief incomplete story is told by the examiner…

Successful reading practices and programs for culturally disadvantaged children are discussed by five authorities in the field. The first section, written by Gertrude Whipple, defines the kinds of pupils considered to be culturally disadvantaged, tells why they need a special program, and outlines the type of program needed. Three sections deal…

In this collection, games and activities are included for each of the following areas of prereading skills: language development, articulation improvement, auditory discrimination, visual discrimination, and visual motor skills. A discussion of each activity and directions for its implementation are included as well. (LL)

One of the programs included in "Effective Reading Programs...," this program serves over 3,100 first, second, and third grade, predominantly disadvantaged children. Approximately 2,000 junior high school students also participate in the program as cross-age tutors. Begun in 1972, the program focuses on reading and language development.…

One of the programs included in "Effective Reading Programs...," this program is designed to help primary level children achieve success in language development before a pattern of failure is established. The program began in 1969 and serves 219 first, second, and third graders. The program employs diagnostic measures to identify each…

This program, included in "Effective Reading Programs...," serves approximately 800 four-year-old children enrolled at 26 public schools. The program was begun in 1965, and in 1971 major revisions were made in it. Children attend prekindergarten classes for two and one half hours a day, five days a week. Specific written objectives for…

Infants raised the pitch of their vocalizations when stimulated by vocalizing parents. Nonvocal stimulation did not repeat the effect. Intonation contours did not change during different conditions. The pitch of the parents' vocalizations also rose during vocal interaction. Changes in infant pitch were interpreted as a function of imitation.…

Research is being conducted to determine the factors behind linguistic retardation in children. A first question raised was whether the linguistic system of the deviant child is qualitatively different from that of a normal child. A matching-up of deviant and normal children according to linguistic level suggests that the onset of base syntax may…

The Yakima Indians of central Washington, speakers of Sahaptin, believe that children should be treated with great respect. For the most part, the Yakimas express strongly negative attitudes about using any form of baby talk while speaking to children. Through interviews conducted with native speakers of Sahaptin, a list of words and expressions…

This paper first considers the inadequacy of definitions of dialect speech that are too rigid. Some of the ways in which dialect can influence the performance of children in school are discussed, and the notion that dialect is an indication of linguistic deficit is also considered. In the last part of the paper, the attitude of the Schools Council…

This study begins with a discussion of what a phonological rule is, and how the term has been used in previous investigations. The relation between the child's phonological system and the adult's system, the relationship between discrimination and production, and the viability of positing underlying forms for children's words are also discussed.…

This paper discusses the problem of how to deal effectively with students' errors from the perspective of Error Analysis. Basic aspects of the theory such as "interlanguage,""learning strategies" and "the interpretation of errors" are introduced; and empirical data from child language learning studies are presented to support the underlying…