A PILOT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO DEFINE THE CHARACTER OF SPEECH MATERIAL IN VISUALLY PERCEPTUAL TERMS AND TO APPLY THE DEFINED CONCEPTS TO THE PROCESS OF INDUCED LANGUAGE ACQUISITION BY THE DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING. ITS PURPOSE WAS TO BUILD A CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION FOR THE LATER DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM, LEADING TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIPREADING TECHNIQUES AND OTHER METHODS OF TEACHING THE AURALLY HANDICAPPED. A LINGUISTIC MODEL WAS USED TO IMPLEMENT THE TWO PHASES OF THIS PRELIMINARY STUDY--(1) SPEECH PERCEPTION AND (2) LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. THE FIRST CONSISTED OF PREPARING A FILM TEST WITHOUT SOUND, HAVING APPROXIMATELY 200 MONOSYLLABIC ENGLISH NOUNS PRONOUNCED WITH A FULL-FACE VIEW AND A 45-DEGREE PROFILE VIEW FOR LIPREADING PURPOSES. IT WAS ADMINISTERED TO ABOUT 430 ADULT SUBJECTS DIVIDED INTO EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS. ANOTHER FILM WAS ALSO PREPARED AND ADMINISTERED, USING NONSENSE SYLLABLES TO ASSIST THE SUBJECTS IN THE PERCEPTION OF THE INITIAL CONSONANTS. THE SECOND PHASE WAS A DESIGN PROJECT FOR A LONG-RANGE FOLLOWUP PROGRAM INVOLVING EDUCATION FOR DEAF CHILDREN. AS A MEANS OF DEVELOPING ELICITING PROCEDURES APPROPRIATE FOR PLANNING, A PILOT PERCEPTUAL DISCRIMINATION TEST WAS CONSTRUCTED AND GIVEN TO 21 NURSERY SCHOOL STUDENTS. (JH)