Examines kindergarten children's use of talk during writing to draw inferences regarding how children use speech to make sense of written language. (HOD)

Provides several types of prereading activities that combine into one strategy stressing vocabulary, oral language development, and prediction. (FL)

Contains 15 articles investigating and discussing issues generated by Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Discusses and examines questions related to object permanence, transitivity, conservation and the concept of necessity as these relate to children. Deals with the origins and causes of development, logical development, social and…

Play has an important socializing function in the process of cognitive and social development. The focus of this treatise is on play as it relates to social interaction, role development, and assimilation of cultural expectations. (JN)

An ecological study of the quantity and distribution of language among children in nursery schools is reported. Two different situations, one in which the presence of the adult is incidental and the other in which the adult assumes a teaching role, are analyzed for categories of verbalization by the children. (Author)

Argues that English reading should not be introduced to a primary school student with a limited command of English until that child can comprehend the syntactic and semantic structures in the text. Discusses ways of assessing a child's level of English competence and the structural level of the reading material. (FL)

Discusses a number of children's books that can be used in conjunction with basal readers to enhance students' reading skills. Presents ideas under the following categories: multiple meanings, skills reinforcement, repetition of sounds, patterned language, and interest in words. Includes an extensive bibliography. (FL)

Effects of mothers' contingent and non-contingent vocal stimulation on vocalization and looking behavior was investigated in 10 Down's Syndrome infants. Neither condition increased infant vocalization but results suggest that looking behavior may be an important indication of competence in pre-linguistic social communication for developmentally…

The author discusses major theories and developments over the last 30 years in three areas of developmental psychology: cognitive development, first language acquisition, and personality. He also comments briefly on methodology in the field. (SJL)

Five- and seven-year-old English and Spanish speaking children were tested on short term memory, perceptual matching, and referential communication tasks to determine the relationship between linguistic coordination and language group. English speakers had significantly lower performance on the communication and perceptual tasks. (Author/APM)

Describes how one school developed six literature-based explorations involving an author of children's books that was intended to develop children's imaginations. (HOD)

Researchers from several disciplines have contributed to the realization that context or social situation varies in regard to a child's language acquisition. Children acquire both linguistic competence, the unconscious understanding of grammatical rules, and communicative competence, the understanding that language is used differently in different…

Asserts that literacy can be seen as a dramatic set. Shows how this conceptualization makes sense of the central concerns of language programs and provides an explicit means for developing literacy. Notes that drama activities provide experiences across many linguistic registers. (RL)

In two experiments, infants 9-17 months of age were probed for recognition of a previously unfamiliar trained name. Responses were videotaped and scored for gaze, gesture, and vocalization. Results demonstrate improvement in receptive language capacity over the age range studied. (RMH)

Discusses research on language development and the conditions that facilitate and inhibit language learning; discusses the basal reader approach to language development and proposes spontaneous talk as an alternative format for teacher/student interaction and language development. (HOD)