Integrating experiences with music in the early childhood classroom supports English language learners' literacy development (Peregoy and Boyle, "Reading, writing, and learning in ESL." Pearson, Boston, 2008; Saricoban and Metin, "Songs, verse and games for teaching grammar." Internet "TESL J," 2000). This article describes the benefits of…

There is a common expectation, particularly amongst international students, that studying in an English-medium university should automatically produce a significant improvement in their English language skills. However, there is growing evidence to suggest that this is not necessarily the case. This paper reports on a study which investigated the…

A discussion of education in New Hebrides, where many different languages are spoken. (HB)

Although Latinos have been a rapidly growing population in the US, little is known about how mental health symptoms may present in Latino children especially in the context of those living in poverty and exposed to violence. We explored the level of violence exposure and trauma symptoms in Latino youth and the relationship of these factors with…

This study was designed to provide answers to three questions: Does language facility decrease as a person ages? What effect does educational level have on language facility as people age? and, Does language facility vary significantly between the sexes as age increases? Subjects for the study were 59 females and 30 males between the ages of 60…

Discusses different approaches for determining second language proficiency norms to be set by employers for personnel, all involving varying degrees of emphasis on linguistic proficiency on the one hand, and communicative competence on the other. (Text is in French.) (AM)

Uses U.S. Census data to examine immigrants' and natives' English language skills. Lack of fluency is rare among native-born Americans. Most immigrants speak English well. Since the 1950s, fluency among new immigrants has declined each year. Additional years of U.S. residency and additional years of schooling tend to increase fluency. Women are…

Suggests methods for helping children develop and maintain the art of conversation. (RB)

Results of two studies with 45 normal three- to five-year-old children indicated that, when the Ss initiated actions with verbal instruction, their use of conjunctions and clause ordering was more effective than in other initiated contexts without a verbal model. (Author/MC)

This study examined word-finding ability, measured by accuracy and latency of response, in a group of eight preschool stutterers (mean age 4.2 years) and two groups of eight nonstutterers (mean age 4.4 years) matched according to age, gender, race, and receptive vocabulary. Results indicated that, as a group, preschool children who stutter and…

Describes efforts of post-graduate student teachers of the Department of Education, University College Cardiff to equip non-English speaking children with sufficient knowledge of that language to be able to follow the school curriculum. Available from: Speech and Drama, Elizabeth Gradwell, Distribution Manager, The White Cottage, Allington,…

Points out that, although Japanese students of English may be taught proper sound and word stress, sentence stress and intonation are usually neglected. A system of teaching these features is outlined. (CHK)

This study investigated the ability of 10 children (ages 6-7) with specific language impairment (SLI), 10 children of the same chronological age, and 10 children at similar levels of language functioning to maintain conversational topics. Results found that subjects with SLI contributed more inappropriate utterances and demonstrated difficulty…

This book contains 65 specific activities designed to help disadvantaged students learn to use language more skillfully and develop the ability to function well in the school environment. The descriptions of the activities are referred to as shoe box labs and generally include the title of the activity, instructions for performing the activity,…

Explores the different ways in which the term "competence" has been used in linguistics, considers the difficulties that arise when the term is used outside the domain for which it was originally intended. Making a clear distinction between "competence" and "proficiency" helps to resolve these difficulties. (Author/CB)