This paper reviews the research on fragile X syndrome, the second most common cause of mental retardation related to chromosomal anomaly. It notes that far more males than females are affected by the fragile X syndrome, which typically results in craniofacial changes, delays in growth and development, speech/language difficulties, and cognitive…

Two related studies investigated (1) the extent to which native language input to five Japanese children was varied based on the children's age, and (2) the effectiveness of adult Japanese second language input to a three-year-old American child during a one-month period in Japan. In the first study, interactions of adult-child dyads were compared…

Over 100 participants from Micronesia, Australia, Japan, Hawaii, and other United States convened to hear presenters speaking on various topics of interest to librarians, archivists, and educators in the Pacific islands. The proceedings include a welcoming speech, remarks acknowledging conference exhibitors, and a keynote address by Dr. John…

Achievements made during the third year of a transitional bilingual program for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean middle school students in the Torrance Unified School District (CA) are reported. The project focused on four goal areas: student instruction, staff development, materials, and parent involvement and education. At each of the district's…

Noting that recent advances in neuroscience and psychology make it possible to understand more clearly how parents help to shape their children's brain development, this book discusses what is becoming known about how young children acquire language, develop emotional ties, gain control of their own emotions, become able to experience the joy and…

This book contains articles from two issues of "Topics in Language Disorders" that focus on recent developments in the understanding of short-term memory, working memory, and long-term memory systems and their relationship to language comprehension, lexical development, early academic development, later academic development, and communication…

Successful bilingual education requires good teaching in both languages. For many years northern Canadian educators have wrestled with the difficulties of teaching English with inappropriate commercial materials from the south. These units were developed by the Department of Education using the Language Development Approach, which is seen as the…

Five papers from a conference designed to examine current and emerging practices for promoting literacy among second language learners of English are presented. The unifying theme of cultural pluralism covers a variety of topics: positive attitudes toward reading, schema theory, teachers' verbal interaction strategies, the assumption that children…

A practicum was developed to expand written vocabulary for third graders through training in using a data base and brainstorming strategies. Individual thesauri were written and published to demonstrate the results of collecting vocabulary and applying it to specific topics. Daily process writing became an integral part of the curriculum. Class…

Originally developed for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on language diversity and reading instruction is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an overview on the topic; the…

To determine how children develop schema for text that include increasing sensitivity to text types, text categories, orthographic conventions in words, conventional story beginnings and endings, and text cohesive ties, a study examined the writing of four kindergarten children. The kindergarten had adopted a process-conference approach to writing…

This guide provides answers to teachers' questions about Hispanic students. Its purpose is to provide a conceptual foundation for educators, and to sensitize and inform teachers of the plight of Hispanic students by making them aware of the students' historical, cultural, economic, language, and educational backgrounds. The following sections are…

Providing both rationale and technique for practitioners, this book emphasizes the influence of visual literacy upon the reading, writing, and creative development of learners. The nine chapters of the book are arranged into three sections, with the first setting forth the basic components of visual literacy and how they manifest themselves in…

The purpose of the third edition of this book is to explore what must be involved in reading by addressing such topics as language, information theory, learning theory, the development of spoken language ability, and the physiology of the eye and brain. It is designed to serve as a handbook for language arts teachers, a text on the psychology of…

To gather information to assist policy makers, curriculum designers, and classroom teachers in planning and delivering language and reading instruction that will promote success in school of children from complex language backgrounds, a 6-year longitudinal investigation begun in 1978 tracked approximately 250 Spanish-speaking children from low…