Although conversations have been identified as an important means to promote young learners' language development, preschool children often have limited opportunities to be involved in complex conversations. This study examined preschool adaptations of Instructional Conversation, a small group discussion between teachers and children in which…

Once speech educators turn their attention to the "ideational" function of oral language--that portion pertaining to thinking--rather than the relational function, they will see that speech can and should be incorporated into every discipline. The psychologist Lev S. Vygotsky envisions the ways in which humans use speech to reorder their…

Twenty mothers of culturally disadvantaged children took part in a program of self-help which was both child- and mother-centered. Two groups of ten mothers each met weekly with two staff members over an 8-month period and were trained to tutor their infants (1 to 2-years-old) in their homes. Fifteen of the initial 20 mothers remained in the…