Written from a social interaction perspective, this digest provides an overview of children's language development in the first five years of life. Viewing language learning as both a social and a developmental process, the digest's three sections outline the process of language development in the first year, the second and third year, and in the…

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores the nature of vocabulary and its implications for classroom instruction. After defining vocabulary and discussing some of the sources of English vocabulary, the digest examines how children's vocabularies develop. It then discusses the role of vocabulary…

People have strong ideas about children growing up with a second or third language. These ideas influence how they look at other people's children, and influence how professionals such as teachers, doctors, and speech therapists advise parents of children growing up bilingually. This digest seeks to dispel some of the myths about children growing…

Research on second language learning has shown that several myths about how children learn languages exist. Among these mistaken ideas are that: (1) children learn second languages quickly and easily; (2) the younger the child, the more skilled he will become in acquiring a second language; (3) the more time students spend in a second language…

This ERIC Digest delineates problems posed by the increasing number of language-minority children in schools and offers suggestions for teaching children from different cultures. It is maintained that a group's language reflects its culture, and the uses to which that language is put are culturally determined. When children and adults do not share…