Describes a study designed to discover how children approach the mass-count distinction as it applies to the use of "much" and "many." Results indicate that children do not approach the co-occurrence conditions of "much" and "many" with various nouns from a semantic point of view, but rather from a…

Analyzes early lexical and phonological development in three children from late babbling through the acquisition of 50 conventional words. Focuses on (1) the relationship between prelinguistic and linguistic vocalizations, (2) phonological development after the onset of speech, (3) patterns of lexical selection, (4) rate of lexical acquisition,…

The acquisition of "to" in infinitive complement structure was examined in the spontaneous speech data from four children who were observed longitudinally from two to three years of age. Results support the conclusion that the verb system is a determining factor in the acquisition of linguistic structure. (SED)

Describes acoustic analysis of the speech of a child from 46 to 149 weeks in which overall word duration, pitch perturbation, and within-word phonetic segments were measured. The subject's overall word duration decreased considerably at a relatively late stage, supporting the claim that a child's neuromuscular control improves with maturation.…

Examines and discusses ways in which the presentation mode can affect children's talk when they are engaging in dramatic dialog. Gives special attention to those differences in language that occur across varying contexts of situation in drama. (HTH)

Describes a study that examined phonological features of a group of 10 Urdu speaking children (20 to 30 months) to determine if a general theory of language learning can be deduced on the basis of Jakobson's theory of language universals. Addresses the question of how far such a theory is applicable to Urdu speaking children acquiring their native…

Examines the possible developmental relationship between unimanual handedness and duplicated syllable babbling. Thirty infants were tested at weekly intervals between five months of age and eight weeks after the onset of duplicated syllable babbling. Results suggest developmental change in hemispheric specialization or at least asymmetrical…

Discusses the satisfactions that children may derive from performance in the culturally important medium of language--performance that embodies their own intentions. (RB)

Written from a social interaction perspective, this digest provides an overview of children's language development in the first five years of life. Viewing language learning as both a social and a developmental process, the digest's three sections outline the process of language development in the first year, the second and third year, and in the…

Examines the effects of chronological age, mental age, and intelligence quotient on verbal imitation of five-year-old children, concluding that transition occurs during the fifth year of life as young five-year-olds emitted more mimical and less conceptual responses than older five-year-olds. (RB)

Critical evaluation of Schlesinger's theory of language acquisition as expounded in Production of Utterances and Language Acquisition'' in The Ontogenesis of Grammar'', p63-101, New York: Academic Press, 1971. (RS)

Investigates the relationship between Keywords and conservation. (GB)