Reviews the language basis of reading disabilities and provides a checklist of language deficits frequently associated with reading disabilities. Areas assessed include: word retrieval, verbal memory, speech production, comprehension, expressive language, and speech sound awareness. The checklist is designed for early identification of reading…

Reviews the benefits and discusses the limitations of the traditional approach to show and tell, such as teacher-dictated schedules, limited interactive communication, problems with children's listening skills and item selection, and its teacher-directed nature. Presents an alternative approach based on appropriate practice--sharing centers--and…

This study with three adolescents with mental retardation examined whether the use of a simultaneous prompting procedure would result in improved performance when expressively identifying first aid materials. All three students learned the identifications and maintained them after training. Students also acquired and maintained some of the…

Investigates construct, predictive, and differential validity for the Comprehensive Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test (CREVT). Adequate construct validity for the CREVT was documented, using the Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children-III as a criterion. Also, the CREVT effectively differentiated between students with disabilities. These…

Considers how expressive written language is considered one of the most difficult areas of academic achievement for children, especially those with learning disabilities. Discusses two narrative writing models: the story frame and the story pyramid. (SG)

Investigated the relationships of expressive vocabulary size with frequency of being read to and frequency of watching television among 64 bilingual 21- 27-month-old children from homes in which Spanish and English were spoken. Frequency of being read to in each language was positively correlated with expressive vocabulary size. Frequency of…

Examines the role of metaphor and narrative in the interpretive organization of feelings and knowledge, especially in children. Looks at a particular case of figurative speech--a child's storytelling--to show how imaginative narrative may carry important clues about the child's inner world of experience. (MG)

The study with 135 children (3-12 years of age) with Down Syndrome or other developmental disabilities found no significant differences in rate of gain across 6 domains when the amount of time in mainstreamed environments was varied. Down Syndrome subjects improved expressive language skills most at sites with no integration. (Author/DB)

Review of literature on indicators of the effectiveness of language intervention programs for autistic children showed that mitigation in echolalia was a critical characteristic, as it implied that the prerequisites for language were accessible through speech. Children whose speech ranged from mutism to unmitigated echolalia had a more negative…

The study compared the use of language functions and language interactions in a structured setting with normal and language-disordered preschoolers. Language disordered children performed less appropriately on the average across all measures and the difference between groups was greater at younger ages. (Author/DB)

Nonfluent and fluent dysphasic subjects (N=22) and nondysphasic subjects (N=20) were assessed on tasks of word fluency and picture-naming. Results showed that clinical language examinations should utilize contexts other than naming tasks for detecting the presence of word retrieval problems and for differentiating the two polar types of dysphasia.…

A standardization sample for the Boston Naming Test was established. Means, standard deviations, and ranges of performance in accuracy and latency were established for age and grade for 357 kindergarten through grade six subjects. It was concluded that the test is an efficient and valid screening measure of students' word finding skills.…

The study demonstrated that 36 male children (ages 7-10) with learning problems were characterized not by a restricted vocabulary as such (i.e., the variance common to both receptive and productive vocabulary measures) but by a hampered production of words (i.e., the variance common to both speed-of-naming and productive vocabulary measures.…

This study found that 30 children with reading disability (RD) performed more poorly than 30 children with normal reading achievement on tasks of serial rapid naming, verbal fluency, letter-based word retrieval, and articulatory speed. RD children had significantly longer reaction times and production durations on the serial naming task. Findings…

Relational knowledge of 21 derivational suffixes was investigated with 120 children (grades 3-8) and 40 adults. Results obtained from a nonsense-word model indicated that suffixes were comprehended with greater accuracy than they were produced, particularly by the children. Children and adults demonstrated greatest accuracy in comprehension and…