Reports a study which examines some of the properties of objects to determine whether the number of different examples of an object concept presented to infants influences concept learning and generalization and to discover whether children's behavior and language in relation to new objects influence learning the concept and generalization to new…

Reports on an experiment to check whether the use of articles by Italian preschool children corresponds to that of their English counterparts and on a second experiment to investigate the probability that subjects might produce the correct response distribution by following a rule based on the speaker's familiarity with the referent, not the…

Combinatorial abilities in language and elicited symbolic play were compared in a longitudinal study of 30 children at 20 and 28 months. In addition, multivariate analyses were used to assess the stability of individual differences. Generally, different symbolic play variables contributed unique explained variance to different language variables.…

Discusses criteria to use when evaluating poetry written by children and contains numerous examples of poetry written by children. (DF).

Argues that rather than using a spelling series and treating spelling as a subject separate from the other language arts, teachers should use a program that begins with encouraging invented spelling and moves to the use of high frequency word lists and spelling by meaning. (FL)

Describes how kindergarten children use invented spelling to rewrite Mother Goose nursery rhymes, indicating the phoneme grapheme system the children perceived from spoken language. (HTH)

Thirty-two children (grades 1-3) of limited English proficiency participated in creative drama sessions over an eight-week period. Results of the study suggest that drama can be effective in stimulating syntactic growth and that interaction and purposeful communication are important in second-language instruction. (PD)

Reports on a recent study of first grade writing efforts that confirms the importance of scribble in the writing process when it is an accepted language behavior in the classroom. (FL)

Explores some of the story concepts evident in children's story retellings and story writings. (FL)

Reports on the work being done by Martha King with the writing of primary grade children. (FL)

Presents a variety of social contexts for verbal interaction between adult and child and between children. Discusses the variations in interaction caused by different contexts, as well as features that are consistent across contexts. (HTH)

Concludes that preschool children know that print conveys information, yet frequently use environmental cues rather than letter knowledge when they appear to read. (FL)

Four children were videotaped playing with their mothers, first in a situation with gestures, and then in a situation without gestures. Results showed that maternal gestures have more of a role in maintaining attention and flow of interaction for young children than they do in providing specific cues to the grammar the child is acquiring. (SL)

An attempt at summarizing current trends and ideas in first and second language teaching methodology. (Text is in French.) (AM)

Discusses the inadequacy of structural exercises in first language instruction, and affirms the importance of oral communication in first language acquisition. (Text is in French.) (AM)