This study explored effects of training 25 mothers to administer focused intervention to teach specific target words to their toddlers with expressive vocabulary delays. Following treatment, mothers' language input was slower, less complex, and more focused. The children used more target words, more words during play, and had larger vocabularies…

This study assessed the relative merits of adult-like syntactic and limited scope formula accounts of children's early determiner use to evaluate the claim that children can be said to be operating with a syntactic determiner category early in development. The study focuses specifically on Valian's (1986) criteria for attributing the syntactic…

Normal and Specific Language Impaired (SLI) children were tested for evidence of the binding domain and orientation properties of their grammars. Results suggest that normal children acquiring English pass through a long-distance binding stage, whereas SLI children behave like very young normal children in requiring the nearest available noun…

Analysis of communicative exchanges between 24 children (ages 2-3) with Down syndrome and their mothers found that the quality of children's responses was highly associated with the degree to which the mothers' requests were related to the child's current activity and matched or were below the child's current developmental level. (DB)

Two studies examined language intervention practices in preschool classrooms that included children with disabilities. Both a descriptive study involving 59 children and a process-product study involving 62 children found that children more frequently exposed to recommended language practices made greater language gains and demonstrated higher…

The value of James Gee's (1994) analysis of first-language acquisition as a guide for theories of learning and pedagogy is that it initiates a serious discussion of learning based upon the most effectively studied developmental mastery--language. This commentary argues that this approach underestimates the roles of diverse symbol systems and…

Research on the communication, language, social, and emotional development of people with autism is reviewed, concerning individuals who either are nonspeaking/limited speaking or use speech as their primary mode of linguistic communication. Research needs for longitudinal studies, investigation of early developmental patterns, and subgroup…

This article describes a functional approach to language intervention that uses storybook reading contexts with preschool children who exhibit delayed phonological development. Oral scaffolding techniques, including discussions of narrative structure and content words, provide the modeling and metalinguistic descriptions typically used in…

The practice of cognitive referencing to determine the presence of a specific language impairment (SLI) and eligibility for services is questioned by a study which compared the variability of the IQ scores of children with specific language impairment over time. The study found high IQ variability, suggesting that IQs reflect current abilities…

This study examined perceptions of 15 British parents whose children with physical disabilities attended a three-week conducive education program focused on functional development, pedagogy, and language and social development. A majority of parents reported progress in walking, motivation, and grasp. Progress was least reported in sleeping,…

This article discusses communicative intent in persons with severe intellectual disability in the context of intervention studies reporting the acquisition of graphic symbol use. The article reviews communicative intent as formulated within psycholinguistic models of language acquisition which emphasize pragmatics and the functions of…

A study analyzed the narratives of 24 predominately English-speaking Latino children (ages 3-5) enrolled in a federally subsidized preschool. The length of narrative did not differ significantly by age. However, older children produced stories that contained longer sentences, a higher proportion of grammatically acceptable sentences, and more…

This article discusses the experiences of an American team who worked with the Bosnia Speech and Hearing Project. The team collaborated with Bosnian teachers of children with deafness and speech-language pathologists in to share therapy ideas and model strategies that parents could utilize to promote speech and language development. (Author/CR)

Examined the relationship between the family environment and children's language and literacy skills, guided by the three models of: (1) Family as Educator; (2) Resilient Family; and (3) Parent-Child Care Partnership. Found that only the Family as Educator model was significantly related to child language and literacy outcomes. (Author)

Mexican-descent families' language socialization experiences and the evolution of their bilingualism were examined through interviews with 63 third-graders and their parents of various immigrant generations and followup interviews with 38 families 4-7 years later. Interviews revealed extremely positive attitudes about English, Spanish,…