Directed both to parents and to professionals, the manual explains factors involved in normal and abnormal language development. Language disorders are discussed, and methods and sources of help are described. (JD)

Designed as a diagnostic tool for assisting early childhood and kindergarten teachers, the Sentence Repetition Task seeks to distinguish children who speak a different dialect and are normal in language development from children who speak a different dialect and are developmentally delayed. This technique is based on the work of Menyuk (1964),…

This study showed the effectiveness of two parent education programs designed to increase young children's sustained attention to verbal stimuli. Forty 18- to 24-month-old children and their mothers served as subjects under three different conditions: Full Treatment Program of home training, home visits, group meetings for mothers, and curriculum…

Vocabulary diversity is a measure either of the language spoken within a fixed time period or of the total utterances, sentences, or words. To measure children's language development as revealed by the diversity of their spoken expression, a comparison was made of the vocabulary of 15 first-grade children of average ability, of first-grade primers…

Universal trends and individual variations in the language development process of the child are described and their relationships to beginning reading instruction are discussed. Child language begins with single word utterances to name things or to express needs and feelings. With a two-word utterance, the child can describe relationships more…

Paralinguistic and kinesic expression begin at birth and are essential to the development of language. Rhythm, for example, a suprasegmental event, appears to be present at birth or prior to birth. The relationship of physiology to communication is evident in the observations of extra-linguistic aspects of communication, such as movement, the use…

A longitudinal study of three children examined the relation between object permanence and language development. (Author/NCR)

Language-impaired children (N=87) were assessed at the ages of 4, 4 1/2, and 5 1/2. In 37%, the language disorder resolved by 5 1/2 years (44% resolution in those with normal nonverbal ability). Outcome for individuals could be predicted with 90% accuracy at four years. (Author/KM)

The developmental model of communication growth is often the most appropriate framework for determining intervention goals with handicapped children. An integration of published literature describing the developmental progression of sensory, motor, and social abilities is provided as an intervention framework for developing communicative abilities…

The goals of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania school district's fourth- through sixth-grade Latin program are to extend the English verbal capabilities of children, broaden their cultural horizons, enable students to understand and speak Latin within an appropriate cultural context, and stimulate interest in the study of modern and classical foreign…

Examines elementary school-aged children's knowledge of directives. Presents findings of cross-sectional research which contrasted first-, third-, and fifth-grade students' comprehension, production of, and reasoning about directives varying in degree of explicitness. Indicates that children's knowledge of directives continues to develop during…

Explores the underlying knowledge that children have about the relationship between the structure of requests and the relative status of speakers and listeners. Shows that the three age groups (preschoolers, 5-year-olds, and 10-year-olds) could systematically differentiate the requests by means of syntactic directness or semantics. (HOD)

Explores the discourse and speech acts used by Black children between the ages of 5 and 10 in one Midwestern community. Examines the rhetorical devices of teasing, name-calling, riddles, and joke-stories and hypothesizes as to the functional significance of each in the cultural environment. (SA)

Summarizes progressions between 2 and 6 years of age in children's power of concentration, ability to express ideas, build logical relationships, structure spoken words, and play with the semantic, phonetic, syntactical, and morphological aspects of oral language. Notes that the progression depends on the educator's interaction with the child.…

This article discusses how the processing, form, and content requirements of written language pose challenges to professionals trying to design and implement regular or remedial educational programs. Differences between oral and written language; influences of culture, value systems, and world knowledge; and structure and content interactions are…