Some children become capable readers and writers before ever attending school and without exposure to formal instruction. This phenomenon--sometimes referred to as natural literacy development--is not, in the strictest sense, natural; as the adult presents much of the literacy environment to the child in a socialized, mediated form, teaching is…

A manual for training paraprofessionals to provide home intervention and instruction to mothers of handicapped infants and preschool children is presented. The following objectives of the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, project are described: teaching mothers about child development; obtaining information about each child and the child's environment; and…

Good language users monitor and understand their own involvement in the learning process. They understand how language is used to make and reshape their world. Everyone needs to be allowed to test his or her personal theories of the world against practice and vice versa. Given the nature of society, it is important that conceptions of literacy…

This study sought to find a way to help children from educationally disadvantaged families to improve their cognitive and language abilities and thus improve their achievement in school. Specifically the study investigated the effectiveness of guided experiences with clay in promoting cognitive, affective, and language growth of educationally…

This paper addresses the need for special education students to learn appropriate work-related oral language and personal/social oral competencies to enhance their success in transition/career-oriented endeavors. It emphasizes the need for an interdisciplinary approach in developing these skills. The paper begins with a historical perspective,…

Intended for teachers in Tasmania, this booklet discusses making sense of language, the nature of written language, language and context, and organizing knowledge of the world. Chapter 1, Understanding Reading, contains a general discussion of the reading process as well as sections on the beginning and continuing reader, planning a reading…

The spontaneous speech of three Mexican American children (one boy and two girls) and their mothers, siblings, relatives, and neighbors was recorded to investigate the relationships between language and cultural values and beliefs, and between language, input, and cognition and the acquisition of linguistic forms. The children were first-born, 20,…

Over 175 activities are described for helping children with autism in the following areas: auditory development (discrimination and memory); concept development (body concept, body in space/direction, size, time, shapes, same/different, color, numbers); social development; speech and language development; and visual-motor integration. The purpose,…

Three aspects of bilingual code-switching are examined: (1) code-switching as an integral part of bilingual behavior, especially in early stages of language acquisition; (2) social factors influencing the child's ability to differentiate languages and make an appropriate language choice; and (3) hierarchical organization of these social factors,…

The nature of children's communication processes of listening, speaking, reading, and drawing/writing that occur during story time is explored in this paper, which describes story time as a literacy event. The framework that children develop during story-time can serve as a vehicle for language arts instruction. In helping children cultivate…

Noting that young children's initial writing efforts are often dismissed as insignificant scribbling, a study explored children's emerging understandings about written language as indicated by the changes in 47 preschool children's autographs. Throughout a school year children were asked to write their names and draw pictures of themselves.…

Designed to reveal some of the strengths and weaknesses of microtechnology in the language arts, this book suggests how and where microcomputers might have applications or implications in the language arts curriculum. The first chapter of the book discusses practical problems facing language arts teachers in developing classroom computer programs,…

A state of the art report on the development of native and second language reading skills in nonnative English speakers begins with a review of the reading process and the relationship of language to the reading process. The second chapter reviews various levels of language and relates them to reading and learning to read a first and second…

Research suggests that assimilative motivation is largely responsible for the development of native-like speech in both first and second languages. Analysis of anecdotal evidence of early bilingual development, studies of dialect acquisition, bilingual immersion programs, and studies of language pidginization illustrating the development of…

A brief overview of the development of Polish education since the Second World War precedes a discussion of preschool education in Poland. The education of very young children is viewed seriously in Poland and has become a socially approved part of the system of education. Discussion focuses on the structure of preschool education, financing, and…