Two sets of meta-analyses examined gender effects on parents' observed language with their children. Findings indicated that mothers talked more, used more supportive and negative speech, and less directive and informing speech than fathers. Mothers talked more and used more supportive speech with daughters than sons. Effect sizes depended on…

Describes the phoneme repertoires and phonological error patterns used by Cantonese-speaking children, as well as a longitudinal study of tone acquisition by four children. The developmental error patterns used by more than 10% of children are reported as common in other languages. Specific rules associated with Cantonese phonology are identified.…

Investigates children's early lexical development in English and Korean and compares caregivers' linguistic input in the two languages. Results indicate that young Korean children use verbs productively with appropriate inflections and that, unlike in English, both verbs and nouns in Korean are dominant categories from the single-word stage. (39…

Examined language differentiation in bilingual toddlers prior to the emergence of functional categories. The children were observed with each parent separately and both together. Results indicate that while these children did code mix, they were able to differentiate between their two languages. There was some evidence that language dominance…

The authors' objective in this article was to explore the accuracy of mothers' estimates concerning their children's developmental functioning, especially with respect to vocabulary and gross motor development, by comparing the results of diagnostic tests administered to both the children and their mothers. The authors studied 55 children with…

This study examines the production of regular and irregular participle forms of German with high and low frequencies using a speeded production task. 40 children in two age groups (five- to seven-year olds, eleven- to twelve-year olds) and 35 adult native speakers of German listened to stem forms of verbs presented in a sentential context and were…

Research undertaken to date suggests that important developments in the understanding and use of intonation may take place after the age of 5;0. The present study aims to provide a more comprehensive account of these developments. A specially designed battery of prosodic tasks was administered to four groups of thirty children, from London (U.K.),…

This article considers the important part that practitioner research can play in the professional development of teachers. The case study illustrates how a teacher's interests encouraged her to investigate particular areas of her practice. She read literature about emotional intelligence and devised strategies to enhance her classroom teaching.…

This article explores the training needs in speech and language of teachers and other early years educators in education settings. Results from the interviews demonstrate that practitioners have clear ideas about preferred training formats and they specifically want more training in identifying children with communication difficulties and…

This collection of original papers draws upon work in linguistics, psychology, and education to highlight the relationship between language acquisition in deaf and hearing populations. The book's 11 chapters are divided into 2 sections, Theoretical Issues and Research Reports. Titles and authors are as follows: "Language Varieties in the Deaf…

Noting that young children learn to talk at different ages but within certain developmental boundaries, this document presents two charts to help parents facilitate their toddler's speech. The first chart lists characteristics to look for in a growing, healthy baby at various ages between 3 months and 24 months, and suggestions for when to talk to…

A study compared the oral and written language concepts of preschoolers from low- and middle-income homes. Subjects, 33 4-year-olds from 3 separate Head Start programs and 31 4-year-olds from three different private schools, were administered 9 informal language assessments in the fall and again in the spring. Parents of the subjects were…

Metalinguistic awareness is discussed in terms of the new national curriculum in English language education in Great Britain. A chronology is presented of events surrounding national curriculum legislation that prompted controversy in Britain concerning the teaching of the English language. One result of this legislation has been the creation of…

This book is designed to provide practical advice to parents and educators on the language acquisition process. Citing numerous case studies and anecdotal examples, it explains how children learn to talk and acquire language. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to language acquisition, explaining the components, forms, and structure of language.…

A study is reported that investigated American children's use of subjects in early speech and compared this cross-sectional data to longitudinal data on Italian children's production of subjects. Twenty-one American children aged 1.10 to 2.8 years were recorded in mother-child interactions and grouped by mean length of utterance (MLU) produced.…