The well-known sampling limitation of most longitudinal corpus data can be even more consequential in the study of morphosyntactic variation in child language. An analysis of caregiver input suggests that variable use in overlapping contexts may be hard to find by solely relying on corpus data collected under the sampling procedures that are…

The first stage of combinatorial speech is better described as variable than uniform. Talk of variants obscures two different aspects of language (knowledge and use) and two different aspects of language development -- acquisition of the grammar (competence) and deployment of the grammar in speaking and listening (performance). Null subjects and…

Distinguished between "linguistic insight" and "linguistic awareness" and highlights some linguistic research of interest to reading teachers. (FL)

Dispels teachers' notions that poetry is hard for the young child and suggests practical ways they can capitalize on most children's delight in language and extend that delight into the enjoyment of literature. (FL)

Employed a new methodology to test children's ability to produce metaphors incorporated into metaphoric compounds. In two studies, 59 children aged between 2 and 6 years, and 34 adults participated in elicited production tasks. Results show that children have an early ability to use metaphoric language, but the significant developmental change…

An experienced children's writer and teacher argues for the right balance of the richly strange and comfortably familiar in books for young children. (HOD)

Discusses information theory and the notions of uncertainty and semantic choice in child language. (AM)

Examines children's progression in the use of humor in language from taking folktales seriously, to using humor for shock, to using humor to alter social environments. (HTH)

Presents a variety of social contexts for verbal interaction between adult and child and between children. Discusses the variations in interaction caused by different contexts, as well as features that are consistent across contexts. (HTH)

Describes various aspects of young children's playful use of language. The kind and characteristics, functions, and teaching implications of language play are discussed. (Author/CM)

Points out that children must master a great deal of information about form classes, written conventions, and word referent relationships in order to understand what teachers mean when they use the term "word." (FL)

Article discusses (1) implications of understanding children's functional language competence for assessment and evaluation, (2) application of this understanding to preparation of teaching materials and design of curricula, and (3) recognition of children's language as a viable system of its own rather than an incomplete rendition of the adult…

This paper discusses the role of attention to uncertainty in mediating the transition from sensorimotor activity to language. It is proposed that language from the very beginning is used to resolve uncertainty by selectively marking points of change, deviation from the familiar or choice from among alternatives. Several research findings are…

Posits that a child's success in acquiring English may depend to a large degree on his or her proficiency in the heritage language. (CB)

Defines exploratory language as that used to explore thoughts rather than for starting already thought of ideas, then shows how three 10th-grade students profited from exploratory writing for different reasons. (FL)