Shows that grammar teaching fails not merely because of faulty teaching methods or imperfect knowledge of English grammar; it fails because of the inherent nature of language and the nature of the students to whom grammar is taught. Argues that it should not be taught until the last years of high school. (EL)

Describes a study of young children's production of novel words serving as names of objects and actions, which were matched according to consonant and syllable structure. On each measure, accuarate production of new consonants was greater for the object words, possibly because action words have greater semantic complexity than object words. (SED)

Reports on a study of mothers' uses of nouns and pronouns and their references to objects and persons as environmental variables which might relate to children's nominal preferences. Findings suggest that environmental factors do contribute to stylistic differences in language acquisition and that the communicative functions of language are an…

Describes a study of spontaneous speech from two young children and their mothers to examine how children learn some of the inflectional/syntactic possibilities for individual verbs. Multiple regression analyses were used. Maternal variety of use was a highly significant predictor of the children's use of the same verbs. (Author/SED)

Describes a part of a study on children's acquisition of Warlpiri, an aboriginal language spoken in central Australia, which aimed to find out at what age the children respond consistently to particular word orders and case frames for simple transitive sentences. Makes comparisons with the acquisition of Turkish transitive clauses. (SED)

Classifies the different language interactions that occur in the school and home, ranging from those that give the child or learner the power to make language choices to those that control the child's use of language. (HTH)

Relates a preschool child's experiences with product labels to show how teachers can use such language stories to promote early reading and writing. (FL)

Studied across a 16-month period, young children of deaf parents showed accelerated early language development, on the average producing their first recognizable sign at 8.5 months, their tenth sign at 13.2 months, and their first sign combination at 17.0 months. Findings are inconsistent with previously reported patterns of synchrony between…

Presents evidence that reading can be learned by the same informal and unstructured methods as speech, and calls for a concentration on slow readers. (CRH)

Discusses the value of invented spelling as a means of encouraging young children to begin writing. Cites many examples of invented spelling. (FL)

Poses and answers several questions parents and teachers have about the value of invented spelling. (FL)

Touches on the cognitive and self-discovery processes and imagination and creativity children experience before their verbal skills are fully developed. (HTH)

Describes a study that attempts to validate the Edmonds Learning Style Identification Exercise (ELSIE), purported to be a quick and easy means to identify and analyze a postulated relationship between preference for sensory modality in learning style and the potential for success in second language learning. (SL)

Describes how fifth grade students can help first graders develop their language skills and also teach other fifth graders how to tutor. Provides a list of picture books for use in the program. (FL)

Challenges existing assumptions about literacy and literacy learning in an effort to both demonstrate and explore the transactive potentials of theory and methodology in the study of literacy. (HOD)