THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TWOFOLD--(1) TO FIND WHAT LOGICAL HABITS AND ABILITIES POSSESSED BY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WERE DEMONSTRATED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF COMPOSITIONAL TASKS, AND (2) TO COMPARE THE WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WHO HAD STUDIED UNDER THE NEBRASKA CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT CENTER'S LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAM FOR A LEAST TWO YEARS WITH THOSE COMPOSITIONS WRITTEN BY CHILDREN IN A TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAM. FIVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMPOSITIONS WERE COLLECTED AT EACH GRADE LEVEL (TWO THROUGH SIX) IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS USING THE NEBRASKA PROGRAM AND IN OTHERS HAVING A TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAM. INSTANCES OF CERTAIN TYPES OF LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR WERE IDENTIFIED AND MEASURED. RESULTS SHOWED THAT (1) CHILDREN WHO HAD STUDIED UNDER THE NEBRASKA PROGRAM WERE BETTER ABLE TO PERFORM THE WRITING TASKS NECESSARY TO PRODUCE WELL DEVELOPED AND CLEARLY ORGANIZED STORIES THAN WERE CHILDREN IN THE TRADITIONAL PROGRAM, (2) THE VISIBLE FORMS OF WRITTEN EXPRESSION HAD AN EFFECT UPON THE LINGUISTIC FORMS OF THE CHILDREN'S WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS, (3) THE ADAPTATION OF ADULT LANGUAGE EXPRESSIONS BY CHILDREN TO THEIR OWN MODELS AND USES INDICATED THAT THE FORMS OF OUR LANGUAGE PRESENT PROBLEMS FOR CHILDREN IN UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE AREAS THAT ARE NEW TO THEM, AND (4) WITHIN ANY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GRADE, CHILDREN MAY BE OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT LEVELS OF COGNITIVE ABILITY BUT THESE LEVELS ARE NOT INDICATED BY STANDARD IQ AND ACHIEVEMENT TESTS. (DL)