If the basic operations hypothesis (EJ 184 227) is interpreted as a general principle governing acquisition of all movement rules, it may obscure the fact that children distinguish between unbounded and local rules. Error patterns support this distinction, lending credence to theories with separate status for the two rule types. (Author/RD)

From a review of studies of the relationship between cultural experience and language development, it is evident that ways must be found to aid children from impoverished backgrounds to use their basic intelligence to operate in the verbally oriented tasks demanded in the academic domain. (Author/EB)

Considers how literature and the modern media influence the quality of children's language development. Provides samples of student responses and student writings, showing how they react to literature and learn from it. (RL)

Describes the development of an instrument that identifies what children who are just beginning first grade reading instruction know about the written language code and relates this knowledge to beginning reading achievement. (HOD)

Presents results of a study of the impact of the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) program on children in India. Significant gains in language development and a greater interest in acquiring knowledge were found among children who viewed the SITE programs. (JMF)

Findings of this Israeli study suggest that perception is affected by lables, learning, and selective attention; that these effects are determined developmentally; and that as age increases, the effects of verbal cues diminish, while the effects of perceptual cues increase. (Author/DLS)

Presents an outline for a theory of syntax acquisition, surveys other approaches to language acquisition, and addresses the following methodological issues: (1) the relevance of linguistic theory to the model; (2) how the model is tested; and (3) the domain of the theory. (Author/AM)

Considers the signed speech of nonverbal children and the unsigned speech that evolves. Discusses possible explanations for signed speech as a development of linguistic functions. Makes suggestions for research on the relationship between language acquisition by nonverbal children and by normal infants. (PMJ)

Ninety children between the ages of three and six described objects which differed on three simultaneous dimensions, using adjective combinations appropriate to the dimensions. Each child performed an imitation, comprehension, and production task. (Author/CFM)

The present study is an attempt to apply a paradigm to the shift of verbal behavior before and after the age of seven in order to see if linguistic contexts affect verbal behavior differentially before seven or after seven. (Author/CFM)

Sentences were constructed in which the terms "before" and "after" were embedded in logically constrained and logically reversible sequences. The preschool children in the study found the constrained sentences easier to comprehend. (Author/CFM)

This article discusses a study by Segalowitz and Galang that reports results showing better mastery of patient-focus sentences than agent-focus sentences for Tagalog children. (CFM)

This article discusses the way in which children use tense to distinguish between different realities in games of pretend. (CFM)

Acquisition of answering systems based on speaker intention v literal components of questions was investigated in monolingual and bilingual English- and Japanese-speaking children. The results suggested that the English system is acquired earlier than the Japanese system and that the two systems interact in bilingual children. (Author/RD)