L. S. Vygotsky's book "Mind in Society" was published more than 50 years ago in Russia, but it is now being recognized as relevant to contemporary research in child development because of the areas of investigation that he suggested. Vygotsky views children as active participants in their own learning and suggests that researchers…

Linguists and psychologists have disagreed concerning the development and nature of children's social perceptions of others on the basis of speech differences. The present study sought to determine in what ways 8- and 9-year olds from different socioeconomic backgrounds might react to dialect differences. Ninety-two randomly selected 8- and…

These reports deal with language as a whole: its nature, its history, its relationship to culture, its acquisition, the immediate uses to which it can be put, and the development in students of an appreciation for the ability to use a foreign language. The book is divided into three main sections: Acquisition, Application, and Appreciation. For…

Research pertinent to the adaptation of immigrant children is reviewed in a cross-cultural perspective. The report focuses on research that has yielded empirical data, although a number of other papers of basic importance have been included in the review. The first chapter discusses definitions and implications of various types of cross-cultural…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 21 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: communications curricula for technical education programs; the recorded oral communication of business students; interactions between parents and speech-language…

Evidence shows that there are differences in the ways in which men and women speak. It has also been well documented that females are generally ahead of males in language acquisition and are less often diagnosed as speech pathologic. A review of the research gives some indication of the reasons for the development of sex differences in spoken…

THIS FIELD MANUAL WAS DEVELOPED AS PART OF A PROGRAM TO TRAIN INVESTIGATORS IN THE COLLECTION OF COMPARABLE CROSS-LINGUISTIC AND CROSS-CULTURAL DATA ON CHILDREN'S ACQUISITION OF LINGUISTIC CODES AND SOCIAL RULES FOR THE USE OF SUCH CODES. ALTHOUGH COMPARATIVE RESEARCH REQUIRES PROCEDURAL STANDARDIZATION, THE PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN THE…

This volume contains fifteen essays focussing on the themes of (a) bilingual schooling and (b) the role and prospects of the Spanish language in the United States. Eleven of the essays are written in English, and the rest are in Spanish. The essays are: (1) "Rationale of Bilingual Education in the United States," (2) "Organization of the Bilingual…

This paper discusses the conflict occurring as a result of two languages and their corresponding cultural bases coming into contact in North America, particularly in the context of bilingual education. Difficulty exists in translating awareness of problems such as language interference, cultural shock, and lowered self-image into attitudinal…

Research papers on language and linguistics include: "Enchainement des mots et acces au lexique en francais" ("Word Order and Lexical Access in French") (Besson); "L'apport de la coarticulation dans la perception de consonnes occlusives et constrictives" ("The Contribution of Coarticulation to the Perception of…

Articles on communication and language disorder are presented. All but one are in French; the other is in German. They include: "Specificity of Developmental Dysphasia: Implications for Intervention" (Marc Montfort, Adoracion Juarez Sanchez); "Difficulties with Language Development and Discursive Capacity" (Genevieve de Weck); "Language Production…

Attention to the language practices of school-age children and teenagers is essential for a complete understanding of how language use can vary in the social construction of everyday activity across the life span. This book examines a wide variety of language practices using data from naturally occurring recorded talk and careful observation of…

Examined associations between individual dimensions of the home literacy environment and specific emergent literacy skills among low-income preschoolers. Found that three dimensions of family literacy environments--language and verbal interactions, learning climate, and social and emotional climate--differentially foster preschool children's…

This volume presents seven papers on topics about second language instruction, language research, and applied linguistics. titles include: "Grammar and Its Teaching: Challenging the Myths" (Diane Larsen-Freeman); "Cross-Cultural Writing and Rhetorical Styles: Toward a 'Socially Realistic' Contrastive Rhetoric" (Yamuna Kachru); "Mother, I'd Rather…

Essays on lexicon and vocabulary development, all in French, address these topics: bilingual lexicon in the context of translation; lexical and conceptual representation in bilinguals; pronouns in "existential" constructions in French and English; configurational functions within grammar; Gustaf Stern's diachronic semantic schema; the…