The paper examines social cognitive activity in mentally retarded children as it applies to language problems, the relationship of problem solving and communication skills, and teaching methods which emphasize language pragmatics. (DB)

Notes interest in recent years in using a particular type of children's literature, the predictable book, as a springboard for stimulating language experiences. Suggests that, although this practice has merits, teachers should avoid engineering literacy tasks to the point where most of the work is done for the student. (NH)

Reviews research that demonstrates parallels between general linguistic and cognitive processes in human language acquisition and avian acquisition of song and discusses how such research may provide new insights into the processes of second-language acquisition. (Author/CB)

The feasibility of American Sign Language (ASL)/English bilingual education programs for deaf children is explored. After reviewing the linguistic input received by these children, language acquisition strategies and the importance of linguistic input in second language acquisition are reviewed. Implications are drawn for teachers instructing in…

A study examined demographic, impairment-related, and parental variables that best predicted self-concept among 49 severely to profoundly hearing-impaired 5- to 11-year-olds. A strong relationship was observed between self-concept and parental indulgence, parental rejection, parental protection, parental discipline, and extent of language…

Describes how a simulated bedtime story experience in which an adult shares a book with a child can be used in classrooms to teach beginning readers. Points out the importance of using authentic children's literature in the approach. (EL)

The introduction to the monograph on auditory learning summarizes the responses of 13 authorities on the education of the hearing impaired to the question: "What is unique about an auditory approach to spoken language development?" Responses are organized into categories (e.g., use of sense modalities, benefits, integration, parent involvement).…

Analysis of 12 Scottish and 12 American 3- to 6-year-olds interacting with adults indicated that, because Scottish adults use the present perfect tense more frequently in their speech to children than American adults do, Scottish children use the tense in their speech long before American children do. (Author/CB)

Instructional strategies targeted for differentiating between German verb synonyms have involved: (1) extended paraphrases or definitions in German and/or English; (2) reference to stylistic and/or contextual differences; and (3) the use of syntactic and/or semantic features. Application of these strategies is shown with the…

Describes a study done to determine whether the degree of children's familiarity with component words was related to (1) their ability to produce productive patterns as opposed to associative and grouping patterns, and (2) their ability to use broader scope rather than lexically based patterns. (SED)

English-speaking and Dutch-speaking children were asked to pick the big, tall, or long members of pairs of bricks. Comprehension improved with age but older children in both groups were prone to choose the taller (but smaller) of two objects when asked to point to the bigger one. (SED)

Traces the development of predicate use for genre and cohesion in the narratives of children aged two to five, examining predicate structures and types and their linkages via three types of parallelism and by means of explicit connectives. (Author/SED)

The articles and papers included here all relate to the issue of Chinese characters and the continuing debate over whether it is difficult or easy to learn and to use them. (RM)

The article stresses the importance of teaching deaf children to think and learn through the development of meaning-making and meaning-sharing capacities. Classroom practices should thus be content focused and actively engage students in American Sign Language to develop general literacy. (CL)

Explores the problem of implicit and explicit knowledge in a second language. The theoretical characterizations of Bialystok and Krashen are shown to be unsatisfactory in addressing these two problems. Some characteristics of explicit knowledge that any improved theory should be able to explain are considered. (SED)