Explains the difference between a reading aloud to children program designed to motivate children to read, and a developmental listening program which provides a focus for listening in a whole language environment and requires response and evaluation. (SD)

Compares and analyzes the types and distributions of cohesive devices used in narrative texts by Dutch-speaking children aged 8-9 and 10-11. Findings indicate a developmental trend in the construction of more cohesive and compact narrative texts. (SED)

Six mentally retarded children were read to individually by an adult reader over a period of six weeks. Verbal interaction between the adult and each child was examined under two story presentation procedures. (MS)

Noting the importance of pragmatic behavior, or the socially-appropriate use of language, to parents of preschool children, this study examined developmental changes in the pragmatic teaching of preschoolers and differences in parents' goals for pragmatic teaching in private versus public interactions. Participating in the study were 29…

Home and family conditions were found to have an effect on verbal interaction patterns between mothers and persons in the home. (Authors)

Reports longitudinal studies of the unique developmental patterns of the blind baby, and discusses the use of home visits to show parents how to assist their infant's development. (NH)

Outlined are strategies for dealing with the problem of students' lack of ability to verbalize multi-syllable vocabulary words in the sciences. A pronunciation examination, the development of corollary writing skills, vocabulary development, student journals, writing exercises, and microthemes are discussed. (RT)

Root word vocabulary was studied in two normative samples (English-speaking, wide socioeconomic range) and in an advantaged sample. Findings suggest that greater efforts should be made to foster vocabulary acquisition in the primary years, and that a rough vocabulary curriculum sequence can be identified for the elementary years. (Author)

French-speaking children and adults heard silent comic-strip stories that differed by frame display mode, explicitness of the links between depicted events, and whether the topic changed on the last frame. Subjects' use of referents for the last frame indicated that manipulation of context was a good means of assessing speakers' acquisition of…

Whereas former research on academic discourse has paid a great deal of attention to writing and its hedging strategies, this paper aims to show that a complementary and equally important feature of academic spoken discourse is the use of modal certainty. An examination of modal selections in two American Dissertation Defenses additionally reveals…

The mechanisms by which adults acquire vocabulary and the relationship between adults' ability to acquire vocabulary and their method of processing information were the subjects of this study. Theoretical bases of the study were ideas from cognitive psychology, particularly the work of Sternberg. Subjects were preservice education majors and…

Discusses an alternate method of examining the verbal interaction of mothers and their children in dyadic communication. The behavior of both mothers and children differed significantly according to the ages of the children involved. Acta Symbolica, 807 Jefferson Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38105. Subscription Rates: annually, $12.00 individuals,…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the private speech of 40 kindergarten children involved in a problem-solving task differed according to gender, socioeconomic status, sociability, and academic ability. The introductory chapter provides a brief summary of the theoretical views of Piaget and Vygotsky concerning private speech.…

A total of 42 language-deficient second- through fourth-grade children participated in an experiment investigating the effects on children's skills and self-efficacy of strategy self-verbalization during listening comprehension instruction. An equal number of boys and girls who had been placed in remedial classes received didactic instruction in…