The Model communication skills lexicon, developed by the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) for use in communication skills instruction in kindergarten through sixth grade, consists of three word lists--an entry list, a general list, and a technical list. The Model 3 entry lexicon (Rhode, 1972)--based on a predominately white sample--was…

Participants in a seminar series in second language acquisition held at Harvard University discussed three papers by Dulay and Burt ("Goofing: An Indicator of Children's Second Language Learning Strategies,""Should We Teach Children Syntax?", "Natural Sequences in Child Second Language Acquisition"), and developed…

The study reports the results of the analysis of Comprehension-Production Test in the kindergarten of two bilingual schools (L-1 English/L-2 French, L-1 Spanish/L-2 English) in the San Francisco Bay area. The tests used covered 14 formal contrasts of English. Parallel tests for Spanish and French were developed by translating the English test.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of varying the semantic content of active and passive sentences along a dimension of "personalness" on the comprehension of those sentences by preschool age children. The study focuses on a current linguistic controversy dealing with the relative adequacy of syntax-based and…

In the first part of the paper the idea of the cognitive network is developed. The network consists of concepts linked together by relationships which are themselves concepts. Concepts are learned according to simple rules, and the network grows as new concepts are learned. Part II considers the growth and structure of language. The growth of…

Monster Moose (MM) Reading is a program specifically aimed at improving children's language, beginning reading, and self-concept development through the creation and utilization of student-authored reading materials which feature a series of wordless picture books about a magical moose. The MM Program is based on the following general principles…

The two primary purposes of this book are to extend information about children's language learning and to look at existing notions of how children acquire language by considering what is meant by linguistic competence. The introductory chapter presents an account of two approaches to the study of language acquisition and outlines the author's…

Several features distinguish this textbook which was designed for an elementary language arts program: each chapter is introduced with a set of objectives and performance responses; chapters provide numerous examples of both exploratory and systematic instruction; the special role of literature as a tool as well as a content subject is recognized;…

Research is being conducted to determine the factors behind linguistic retardation in children. A first question raised was whether the linguistic system of the deviant child is qualitatively different from that of a normal child. A matching-up of deviant and normal children according to linguistic level suggests that the onset of base syntax may…

The Yakima Indians of central Washington, speakers of Sahaptin, believe that children should be treated with great respect. For the most part, the Yakimas express strongly negative attitudes about using any form of baby talk while speaking to children. Through interviews conducted with native speakers of Sahaptin, a list of words and expressions…

This paper first considers the inadequacy of definitions of dialect speech that are too rigid. Some of the ways in which dialect can influence the performance of children in school are discussed, and the notion that dialect is an indication of linguistic deficit is also considered. In the last part of the paper, the attitude of the Schools Council…

This study begins with a discussion of what a phonological rule is, and how the term has been used in previous investigations. The relation between the child's phonological system and the adult's system, the relationship between discrimination and production, and the viability of positing underlying forms for children's words are also discussed.…

This paper discusses the problem of how to deal effectively with students' errors from the perspective of Error Analysis. Basic aspects of the theory such as "interlanguage,""learning strategies" and "the interpretation of errors" are introduced; and empirical data from child language learning studies are presented to support the underlying…

The first section of this paper discusses recent writing research and the basic elements of language development. The second section describes a program which used a sentence-combining method as an activity-based experience for language development. A six-month study involved all fourth graders at Powell School in Mountain View, California. The…

The syntactic and semantic constraints on the occurrence of HAVE-GOT and GOT, each with the meaning "possess," are analyzed with respect to differences among several ethnic dialects: American Anglo and Black English, British English, and Mexican-American and Puerto Rican English. Data from three sets of interviews which elicited these verbs are…