The purpose of this article is to provide evidence to support direct vocabulary intervention practices for primary school-age children with language impairment (LI). A rationale for providing direct vocabulary intervention for children with LI is outlined by reviewing typical and atypical vocabulary acquisition, evidence of instructional…

Normal language acquisition is a process that unfolds with amazing speed primarily in the first years of life. However, the refinement of linguistic proficiency is an ongoing process, extending well into childhood and adolescence. An increase in lateralization and a more focussed productive language network have been suggested to be the neural…

Although children with language impairments, including those associated with reading, usually demonstrate deficits in phonological processing, there is minimal agreement as to the source of those deficits. This study examined two problems hypothesized to be possible sources: either poor auditory sensitivity to speech-relevant acoustic properties,…

The current study compares the effects of two shared storybook reading (SSR) interventions on language and emergent literacy skills of low-income preschoolers. The control intervention targeted language and print awareness, skills for which there is strong evidence of the effect of SSR. The experimental intervention added a focus on phonological…

Up to 16% of students in mainstream secondary schools present with language impairment (LI). As with other learning difficulties, students with LI experience many academic, social, emotional and behavioral problems. Associated presenting behaviors may, however, be masking the primary language impairment. As a result, secondary school students with…

Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD) is a rare condition characterized by distinct regression of developmental and behavioral functioning following a period of apparently normal development for at least 2 years. The purpose of this article is to present the developmental, behavioral, psychosocial, and medical histories of eight children who…

Many children with specific language impairment (SLI) show impairments in discriminating auditorily presented stimuli. The present study investigates whether these discrimination problems are speech specific or of a general auditory nature. This was studied using a linguistic and nonlinguistic contrast that were matched for acoustic complexity in…

The principal aim of this paper is to contribute to the pursuit of evaluating pragmatic language competence in preschool years by observation-based data. Initially, the relations between age and language development measured as mean length of utterance (MLU) and three dialogue skills are described. The occurrences of "focus on the dialogue…

To what extent do speaker-external communicative pressures versus speaker-internal cognitive pressures affect utterance form? Four experiments measured speakers' references to privately known (i.e., privileged) objects when naming mutually known (i.e., common ground) objects. Although speaker-external communicative pressures demanded that speakers…

This paper attempts to review second language acquisition theory and some of the methods practiced in language classes. The review substantiates that comprehensible input as the crucial determining factor for language acquisition and consciously learned linguistic knowledge can be used only to edit the output of the acquired language sometimes…

The Critical Period Hypothesis aims to investigate the reason for significant difference between first language acquisition and second language acquisition. Over the past few decades, researchers carried out a series of studies to test the validity of the hypothesis. Although there were certain limitations in these studies, most of their results…

A great deal of attention has been paid to the role of idiomatic language in learning a second language. It has been recently recognized by some second language researchers (e.g. Danesi, 2003) that second language speakers may sound unnatural if their speech is devoid of idiomatic language. This article is an attempt to see how the acquisition of…

This dissertation examines three processes affecting consonants in child speech: harmony (long-distance assimilation) involving major place features as in "coat" [kouk]; long-distance metathesis as in "cup" [p[wedge]k]; and initial consonant deletion as in "fish" [is]. These processes are unattested in adult phonology, leading to proposals for…

"The Montessori Observer" is mailed four times each year, in March, May, September and November, to Society members throughout the world. The purpose is to provide news and information about the Society's work in Montessori education, and to extend awareness of Montessori principles throughout the world. This issue contains a feature article,…

Background: Research conducted on preterm children's linguistic skills has provided varying pictures, and the question of whether and to what extent preterm children are delayed in early language acquisition remains largely unresolved. Aims: To examine communicative and linguistic development during the second year in a group of Italian children…