Briefly reviews current knowledge about the nature of limits of intersubjectivity (ability to acquire and manage representations of self and other through social experience) in autistic children. Describes an observational study of verbal autistic children indicating the presence of intersubjectivity, but with little of the verbal social…

The language development of a Finnish-English bilingual child was studied, with focus on the relationship between the developmental patterns of language loss in bilingual situations and the variations in input factors, including social, emotional, and attitudinal factors. Findings suggest the importance of linguistic input outside the home. (17…

Examines four kinds of language learning-related behaviors (LLRBs) in the home conversations of 6 English children studied for 6 months from age 2.6 years. The role of LLRBs in frequency and range and in the frequency of grammatical productions during spontaneous revisions is addressed. (44 references) (GLR)

Examination of the spoken English development of a hearing child whose deaf parents used American Sign Language (ASL) identified a consistent but not extensive ASL influence on simultaneity of expression, undifferentiated versus differentiated features, bound versus free morpheme mechanisms, and word order. (47 references) (Author/CB)

Compares patterns of cluster realization from 47 children ranging in age from 3;4 to 6;8 with functional (nonorganic) speech disorders with those reported in the literature for normal acquisition and reveals that these patterns are essentially the same for both groups. (33 references) (GLR)

The development of the expression of grammatical categories in German in Turkish and German children attending a bilingual day care center in a multilingual speech community in Berlin is examined. Results indicate no evidence that pragmatic categories precede syntactic ones, but some evidence shows that grammatical markers develop first as…

Examines whether systematic differences exist in babbling and first words of infants from different language backgrounds (English, French, Japanese and Swedish) and asks whether differences result from the phonetic structure of the languages. Statistically significant differences discerned in the babbling phonetic selection indicates that phonetic…

Provides evidence for developmental changes in the composition of the lexicon, reflecting a shift in emphasis from reference, to predication, to grammar. Findings show that the study of qualitative variation in lexical style is confounded by quantitative variation in rate of lexical development. Tables are appended. (Contains 42 references.) (JP)

Word learning by young children is viewed as a problem deriving from the use of forms of discourse texts. Uses of causal and temporal terms in private speech by a child studied longitudinally from 1;9 to 3;0 are analyzed from this perspective. (Contains 38 references.) (JL)

Two experiments were performed on the ability of children and adults to understand and produce locative verbs. Results confirm that children tend to make syntactic errors with sentences containing "fill" and "empty," encoding the content argument as direct object. (33 references) (JL)

Suggests that experimental studies are valuable in analyzing children's language development. Criticizes the scarcity of experimental and naturalistic investigation into preschool language development. Calls for long-term study of continuity and discontinuity in children's school and home learning and between different school stages. Observes that…

Analysis of the discourse demands across the school year within a recurred event, "Circle Time," is presented to show how three and four year olds learned to be conversationally appropriate partners within a group, how the teacher's interactional patterns shifted as students learned, and how participation in the subevents added differing…

Criteria that 9 nonnative English-speaking children in grades 2-6 used when evaluating writing are described. Results indicate that the students were critical evaluators, focused on meaning regardless of age and author, were idiosyncratic in the range of criteria used, and were influenced by the pedagogical focus of their…

Reports the findings of a study designed to investigate children's deictic changes, use of speech act verbs, and preference for reporting system in their retold narratives. Claims that a linear age function emerged and that children's mastery of direct and indirect speech extends over many years. (HB)

Analyzes the referential strategies used in narrative discourse by 10 adults and 60 Japanese children aged 3 to 7 years. Determines the factors underlying choice of nominal versus elliptical forms. Discusses results in terms of cognitive, social, and linguistic factors underlying referential choice. (HB)