Three studies investigated how 24-month-olds and adults resolve temporary ambiguity in fluent speech when encountering prenominal adjectives potentially interpretable as nouns. Children were tested in a looking-while-listening procedure to monitor the time course of speech processing. In Experiment 1, the familiar and unfamiliar adjectives…

This article examines the question: Do lexical, syntactic, fluency, and discourse measures of oral language collected under narrative conditions predict reading achievement both within and across languages for bilingual children? More than 1,500 Spanish-English bilingual children attending kindergarten-third grade participated. Oral narratives…

Recently, tasks have been advocated for their role in promoting participation in L2 interaction and the provision and use of feedback by language learners (Bygate, M., Skehan, P., Swain, M. (Eds.), 2001. "Researching Pedagogical Tasks: Second Language Learning, Teaching and Testing." Pearson Education, Harlow). The relationship between various…

A study examined the relative contributions of age, sex, and education to verbal and nonverbal fluency in a normal population. Sixty-seven subjects aged 12 to 71 years performed paper-and-pencil tasks proven to be dependent on the right and left hemispheric modalities of the frontal lobes. Multiple t-tests were applied to determine whether…

This study analyzed overlap (or interruption behavior) in conversations between mothers and their stuttering children to determine how overlap relates to fluency. Subjects for the study, which is part of the Genesis of Stuttering Project, were 20 preschool stuttering children and their mothers. Three forms of overlap were examined: simultaneous…

Vocabulary grouped according to subject matter is well-adapted to developing speaking competence. Even in the use of blackboard pictures for teaching vocabulary, systematic aspects should be observed. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

An after-school activity offered by the Central Institute of English Language called "Games" is described. The purpose of the activity is to stimulate and increase oral fluency and production. Several games are commented on. (RM)

THE STUDY ATTEMPTED TO RELATE THE DEGREE OF SPEECH FLUENCY TO SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS OF THE SPEAKER. THE FORM OF THE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP ACTED SELECTIVELY ON THE SPEECH POSSIBILITIES OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND AGAIN IN SOME WAY THESE POSSIBILITIES CONSTRAINED BEHAVIOR. THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE TRANSFORMED LANGUAGE POSSIBILITIES INTO A…

This book contains 65 specific activities designed to help disadvantaged students learn to use language more skillfully and develop the ability to function well in the school environment. The descriptions of the activities are referred to as shoe box labs and generally include the title of the activity, instructions for performing the activity,…

Comparative judgments of vocal quality, speech fluency, and confidence of black and white speakers in southern universities were tested to determine the interrelationships of (1) perception of vocal quality and judgment of confidence in the voice, (2) quality and fluency, and (3) speech fluency and judgment of confidence, and to ascertain the…

This study analyzed the relationship between oral language facility and reading achievement of 140 selected first-grade children in the state of Virginia. Teacher selection, general intelligence tests, and language and verbal fluency tests were used to place the children in two groups, a Verbal Group and a Non-Verbal Group. Significant differences…

Compared in a 2-year study were four establishment of fluency programs in a public school setting with 40 7- to 16-year-old children who stuttered. The programs included programmed traditional (PT), delayed auditory feedback (DAF), pause (P), and gradual increase in length and complexity of utterance (GILCU). During the first year, eight speech…

Ninety-eight misarticulating 8 and 9 year-old children participated in a study to determine the correspondence between the classification of measures by clinical judgment and by factor analysis. (Author/MH)

The difficulties of assessing and grading fluency in Japanese for advanced students on oral examinations is discussed. Factors of accuracy of grammar and vocabulary, pronunciation, and ease of expression are discussed. (CHK)