The two-part paper examines the neurobiological processes of synapse overproduction, synapse elimination, and issues of language acquisition and attrition. The first part consists of diagrams and notes explaining some basic terms and concepts of neurobiology: cortex; white matter; neuron; synapse; synaptogenesis; and development and organization…

There are clear differences in acquisition and developmental patterns between conversational language and academic language, or BICS (basic interpersonal communicative skills) and CALP (cognitive academic language proficiency). The conceptual distinction between these two levels highlights misconceptions about the nature of language proficiency…

This document is designed to provide educators with an objective synthesis of the current research on language development in children who are deaf. The materials reviewed were primarily peer-reviewed articles published in the last 10 years. Only references that focus primarily on deafness were included; however, some studies also involved…

Considerable evidence exists that high-quality early childhood education programs for children from birth to age 5 can have long-lasting, positive consequences for children's success in school and later in life, especially for children from low-income families. However, such programs are not available for all children who need them, nor are all…

Seven-month-old infants require redundant information such as temporal synchrony to learn arbitrary syllable-object relations. Infants learned the relations between spoken syllables, /a/ and /i/, and two moving objects only when temporal synchrony was present during habituation. Two experiments examined infants' memory for these relations. In…

Based upon the view that parents, home visitors, and teachers in early childhood settings need tools for empowering young children to develop language, this paper examines what adults need to know to guide young children's language development and presents 20 suggestions for enhancing language growth. The paper maintains that adults need to know…

This study compared and analyzed the language capabilities of 10 school-age children raised in either single parent homes resulting from divorce or in two parent families. More specifically, it compared the context and complexity of oral personal event narratives produced by both groups of children. The study also investigated the usefulness and…

Ear infections in infants and preschoolers can cause mild or moderate temporary hearing loss, which may in turn affect a child's ability to understand and learn language. Noting that providing children with proper medical treatment for ear infections or middle ear fluid is important in preventing possible problems with language development, this…

This book addresses issues related to meeting the language and learning needs of low socioeconomic status (LSES) students so they achieve as well as middle socioeconomic status (MSES) students. Chapter 1, "What's Going On? discusses differences between LSES and MSES children that cause LSES children to fail and MSES children to succeed in school;…

Sees reading not as a subject to be taught but as an integral part of an open classroom that fosters some basic principles of learning. (TO)

Reviews research using sentence length as a factor in predicting readability and discusses the possibility of sentence complexity as a more accurate variable. (TO)

Developmental data on 612 home reared, Down's Syndrome children, from birth through 16 years of age, were collected over 20 years from an outpatient clinic for mentally retarded children and were statistically analyzed to ascertain normative times of motor, language and intellectual developmental behaviors. (Author/MC)

Stresses that a teacher needs to listen to children more, that a child must learn school language and how to ask questions to which the teacher then responds. A discussion of child language and linguistic theory is included. (TO)

An educator, concerned with the state of current elementary school writing methodology, suggests a positive approach based on the principle of children writing what they want to write for a real audience of peer cohorts. (CS)

Considers the role of languages and European culture in developing language programs. (RK)