This article focuses on three aspects of language instruction in early childhood education: a) educational and sociological events which prompt concern over language behavior, b) results of research of the last 10 years, and c) suggestions for curriculum and instruction. (HMD)

Knowledge of what constitutes development toward language maturity in school-age children should enable us to make substantial improvements in the language component of the curriculum. (Author)

This paper suggests that the main reason for the failure of many children to learn to read may be that reading programs often require the child to begin reading before he has developed oral language skills. By 3 years of age the child has acquired almost all the linguistic rules needed to produce basic, or kernel, sentences, which consist of…

In an attempt to explore a systematic approach to language expansion and improved sentence structure, echoic and modeling procedures for language instruction were compared. Four hypotheses were formulated: (1) children who use modeling procedures will produce better structured sentences than children who use echoic prompting, (2) both echoic and…

This measure is designed to identify, assess, and diagnose the oral language capability of English and Spanish speakers, and to prescribe corrective or improvement activities. Part One provides minimum criteria to identify children who might need training in a second language. Part Two is designed to assess the child's primary or home language and…

The 19 papers in this collection cover diversified topics in the general area of psychology and second language learning. No single method of language teaching emerges, but the complexity of second language behavior and the importance of psychology in the field are underlined. Several trends seem to be most prevalent. There is a new focus on the…

This collection of articles concerns various aspects of a cognitive approach to second language learning. The discussion of such an approach involves current ideas in linguistics, psychology, and sociology. The 13 chapters represent the work of 14 authors and include the following titles: "Toward a Cognitive Approach,""Teaching English to Speakers…

A study is described of heuristic devices useful in learning both native and second languages. The study concerns particularly the means used by very young students (second and third graders) in vocabulary acquisition and in the establishment of semantic relationships. It was of concern to verify if (1) the children would use their knowledge of…

Oral language development in early childhood education is concerned with conceptual development as well as with skill formation. There seems to be an order in which most children learn to verbalize basic concepts. This guide lists classroom activities that may be used to facilitate and enhance the conceptual development of kindergarten children in…

This is the second report of a longitudinal project, initiated in 1970, in which children with and without language problems are identified in French immersion and English kindergartens and closely monitored to the end of grade 3. This study investigates the desirability of early French immersion program for English-speaking children with language…