Three studies assessing language comprehension of infants and toddlers through a method requiring a minimum of motor movement, no speech production, and differential visual fixation of two simultaneously presented video events provide insight into children's emerging linguistic capabilities and help resolve controversies about language production…

Phonetic and phonological analysis of spontaneous speech of six 2-year-old monolingual Puerto Rican Spanish-learning children revealed several sound usage patterns similar to those found in English and other language-learning children, supporting the claim that certain universal patterns exist in phonological development. (Author/CB)

Studies analyzing children's response time to detect word targets revealed that six-year-olds and younger children generally did not show the response time advantage for accented target words which adult listeners show, providing support for the argument that the processing advantage for accented words reflects the semantic role of accent as an…

The whole language philosophy of teaching reading and writing is outlined and related to children's acquisition of oral and written language. A typical whole language classroom is described, along with the roles of the teacher and students. A chart contrasts whole language theory with more typical methods of literacy education. (Author/JDD)

Describes a lexical training program developed to teach object, visible movement, and invisible movement words to children at stage 5 (N=7) and stage 6 (N=16) object permanence development. Stage 6 children learned all three types of words equally well, while stage 5 children learned object and visible movement but not invisible movement words.…

Analyzes the written language learning of kindergarten children as a transaction among writers, teachers, and the writing process and concludes that children, when given the opportunity to take risks with written language, create with semantic intent. (DF)

Argues that while many publishers may simplify the sentence structure in the basal reader to facilitate the process of learning to read, this practice may result in texts with stylistic features and text formats that are unnatural and uncharacteristic of written English or the language development level of the children. (FL)

Evaluates a comprehensive intervention program for deaf children under age three in Vancouver, British Columbia. Twelve subjects were compared with a matched sample of children undergoing less-systematic intervention. Results indicated more developmentally mature communication and higher quality interaction in families who had received…

Discusses the importance of teachers' awareness of students' backgrounds and cultures and cites research conducted in Great Britain by B. Tizard and M. Hughes and in the United States by S. Heath to support this belief. (DF)

Illustrates how school writing environments that encourage talk between peers can help children learn about writing and the writing process. Describes recurring patterns of language behavior at a kindergarten writing table and shows how children's natural conversations are often reminiscent of adult-child interaction in the home. (HTH)

Discusses the collaboration that developed among two classroom teachers and a university instructor while one of the teachers visited classrooms to investigate the question: How can classroom teachers promote children's language and language skills? (HTH)

One of the most important skills of professionals who work with young children is the ability to assess developmental functioning through informal observation. This skill serves as the foundation for screening or identifying children in need of developmental services, conducting play-based developmental assessments, and helping parents to…

Argues that "kid watching," the model of the successful reader, story schema, predictable materials, language experience, and supportive writing are all indicators of the return to common sense in reading education. (FL)

This article explains how the relationships among teacher language, pupil language, and teaching and learning in the schools are explored in a postgraduate course that trains secondary school teachers at a British college. Students practice teach in urban, multiethnic schools in conjunction with the course. (Author/PP)

Using Tough's hierarchical analysis of language functions, this study found developmental differences in the communicative functions and strategies used by preschoolers in their conversations with one another. Generally found that females developed language strategies earlier than males and achieved a more advanced level of cognitive complexity…