Dialogues of sets of socially similar twins are studied. The opinion that twins have slower syntactic development than non-twins is seriously questioned. Dialogues with twins saying the same utterance together, correcting each other, quarreling, playing verbal games, etc. are analyzed in their deep structure. (SCC)

Through discussion and illustrative events, an evolving segment of communication is described during the course of transition of one child's total communication system from the sensorimotor or gestural level at 12 months into the level of use of the adult words "more" and "mine," and associated utterances, at 24 months. (Author/RM)

Results are reported of a study of voice onset time characteristics of stops in initial clusters in American English words produced by children and adults. (Author/RM)

Second language learning in adults is compared to a child's acquisition of its native language in that learning is said to be governed by universal learning strategies rather than imitation. The strategy of simplification is discussed with examples from Indonesian/Malay. (Author/RM)

Sentences written in either an expanded or optionally deleted form were read for imitation and delayed recall to a group of nursery school children and a group of adults. Results and their implications are discussed. (Author/RM)

A phonological and syntactic study of a small important group of nonarbitrary terms in Pomo baby talk that are concerned with elemental body needs. A progression is shown from sound images closely associated with the action state or object denoted to the phonological patterns of adult languages. (SCC)

This article discusses the relationship between the linguistic description of language and the speaker's acquisition and use of language, with specific reference to the role of paradigmatic and syntagmatic relationships in the acquisition of definition as a linguistic behavior. (Text is in French.) (AM)

This article attacks the practice of using criteria based on adult language to describe language acquisition in children. Principally it is a matter of contradiction between criteria of form and criteria of meaning or function. (Text is in French.) (AM)

The acquisition of morpheme-structure constraints by children is discussed. The focus is a subset of verbs in modern Hebrew and the language-specific knowledge that children acquire of what constitutes a possible verb in their language, from the point of view of both internal form and of categorical appropriateness for naming a certain semantic…

Noting that too many children leave elementary school without developing the ability to use words imaginatively, this paper presents a teaching approach that uses literature to foster invention in children's writing. The approach described is part of a total composition program that structures writing experiences in which children observe…

Four different kinds of story were presented to children aged 4,7, and 10 years and to adults. In the stories, the relationship between basic-level referents mentioned in the first part of the story and the related superordinates mentioned in the second part was changed by means of different kinds of articles introducing the superordinates:…

An investigation was made of the role of parents in children's acquisition of pragmatic language skills (in other words, their ability to use language appropriately in social contexts). A total of 49 middle class adults completed questionnaires; 9 were parents, 15 were teachers, 9 were both teachers and parents, and 16 were neither. The first part…

Notes from a diary kept on the language acquisition of a child from age 11 to 22 months, through four developmental stages, were used to investigate the interaction between the child's phonological systems and his developing syntactic system in the context of research on the emergence of multiword combinations. The presence of a phonological…

Kindergarten-aged children's use of parallel constructions in their peer storytelling, while not common, reflect children's interest in the organizational principle of theme and variation. Semantic and syntactic parallelism represent two of many ways in which some youngsters employ theme and variation in their storytelling. The constructions give…