Previous studies have shown that phonological awareness correlates with children's reading aloud and also adults' literacy experience. More recent research has further suggested that phonological awareness is associated with the processing of spoken language, which is a correlate of reading comprehension. In this paper, I argue that phonological…

Case-based methodology has been a staple of teacher education coursework for many years. However, commercial case studies do not always meet specific teacher candidates' needs or match their experiences in school settings. Teacher educators in an Early Childhood program in a midwestern university developed an innovative use of case-based…

To examine relationships between children's exposure to and use of new or rare words during preschool years and their later performance on vocabulary-related measures, this study explored frequencies of rare word use in different conversational settings. The study also tracked the use of rare words by mothers and children and related those results…

This critical review of the literature examines the characteristics and needs of limited English proficient (LEP) adults and the programs and services typically available to them. The complexities of the LEP population are explored first, including differences in education, English proficiency, labor market experience, and economic status.…

Defining metalinguistic awareness as the ability to reflect on and manipulate the structural features of language, this article examines the hypothesis that the metalinguistic demands of learning to read are shaped by the structure of a language and its associated writing system. The article examines the relationship between phonemic awareness and…

This paper examines the cognitive-linguistic development of young deaf children and some associated theories. The premise that linguistic processing begins initially and most effectively through visual linguistic processing within the context of the social environment is stressed. Social learning theories which emphasize the importance of the…

A study explored the functionalist-constructivist approach to acquisition of grammar where word classes emerge as a result of distributional differences related to function. Focus is on acquisition of two Swedish forms, "i" and "pa," which can belong to the categories of either particles or prepositions, in two Swedish…

Providing a practical look at the role of spelling in the overall language arts curriculum, this book helps those who interact regularly with young children understand how learning to spell is part of the broader fabric of learning to write in whole language classrooms. After an introduction, chapter 1 provides opportunities to explore how…

This paper examines two studies on language development and narrative discourse structure by looking at how language shapes and is shaped by culture-specific experiences. Conversations between 20 middle-class Japanese preschoolers, aged 4-5 years old, and their mothers were analyzed to study differences in narrative elicitation by mothers towards…

A study investigated the use of negative polarity items (NPIs) in child language, and in particular, how children acquire the restrictions on these items. Data are drawn from studies of NPIs in the spontaneous speech of Dutch- and English-speaking children. Results show the first NPIs to appear in Dutch and English are widely different…

This report summarizes the results of three studies concerning the Reading Recovery or Descubriendo la Lectura program with first-grade California students. Studies were conducted using state-wide data obtained during 1993-94 programs to determine if the program was an effective intervention for children with difficulty in learning to read. The…

This paper reviews the literature on the impact of technology on reading instruction, with a specific focus on language development as enhanced by the use of CD-Rom programs. The paper cites a study in which two separate groups, preschool children and third graders, were asked to talk about a story they listened to and saw on CD-Rom, providing…

This book articulates and defends the "theory theory" of cognitive and semantic development: the idea that very young children just beginning to talk are engaged in profound restructurings of several domains of their knowledge. These restructurings are analogous to theory changes. The children's early semantic development is closely tied…

A major synthesis of the latest research on early language acquisition, this book explores what gives infants the remarkable capacity to progress from babbling to meaningful sentences, and what inclines a child to speak. The book examines the neurological, perceptual, social, and linguistic aspects of language acquisition in young children, from…

This study investigated associations between infants' prelinguistic communicative behaviors at 9 months and their communication and language performance at 12 and 18 months. The inclusion of both hearing (N=19) and deaf (N=16) infants in the study allowed identification of effects related to the receptive communication modality (vision versus…