Twenty-three normal adults and four closed head-injured (CHI) adults with a high level of language recovery retold and generated stories. The two tasks differentially influenced the performance of both groups. The two groups differed in measures of cohesiveness and story grammar only in the story generation task. (Author/JDD)

Pacing boards can assist in the transition from single word to multiword utterances by children with language impairments. The pacing board provides visual and motor cues to help young children imitate and spontaneously produce multiword utterances as well as increase metalinguistic awareness of speech units. Instructions for making pacing boards…

This study evaluated the "missing-item" language intervention with two moderately to severely retarded students (ages five and six) in a special class setting. The missing-item format produced effects in requests for targeted snack items and, after generalization training, a requesting repertoire that was durable and generalized across…

This review looks at the impact of word finding deficits, psycholinguistic considerations in naming (including relevant intrinsic and extrinsic variables), behaviors indicative of word finding difficulty, screening for word finding disorders in the classroom, direct assessment (both formal and informal), individual differences, and word retrieval…

This digest discusses expressive writing and the expressive mode, which is seen as a recurring stage in a writer's process of writing. The digest suggests that by structuring expressive writing activities and correlating them with particular stages of the writing process, a teacher can draw the natural linguistic activity out of a student. The…

The study assessed the use of Blissymbols in the spoken and signed language development of 10 school-aged (mean age 11.5 years) children with developmental dysphasia of whom four also were mildly retarded. The students' expressive abilities in signed and spoken words were initially assessed before the Bliss teaching began, and then again after 1…

Two experiments investigated preschoolers' acquisition of spatial words in Mandarin Chinese. In one experiment, 5 groups of 10 children at 34, 39, 46, 52, and 57 months were tested for comprehension and production of 14 pairs of Chinese spatial words. In the comprehension test the children were asked to point to pictures corresponding to the words…

Proposes a heuristic to generate specific and vivid phrasing and to draw on the right hemisphere of the brain for the substance of the essay. Describes stages of process as DRAW (Delineate, Ruminate, Analogize, and Write). Emphasizes creative description and expressive language rather than generation of ideas. (JG)

Five receptive and five expressive considerations are presented which serve as guidelines for the selection of informal evaluation tasks. The resulting procedure provides descriptive data on a student's auditory processing skills and his/her ability to use language for various purposes. (Author/CL)

Describes a technique that permits special education students to express their feelings through writing. Discusses the teacher's role in this process and outlines its benefits. (FL)

This article offers suggestions on enhancing emotional vocabulary in early childhood education settings. A schematic of children's emotional literacy is followed by ways to build emotional vocabulary by teaching directly, teaching incidentally, or utilizing special activities. Suggestions also address teaching children to recognize feelings in…

The Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) and an expressive language measure were administered to 114 children (aged 24 to 74 months) suspected of developmental difficulties. The DDST did not identify the majority of children who failed the expressive language screening, even after cutoff scores were made more rigorous. (Author/JDD)

A teacher describes use of a three-phase freestyle writing activity to encourage students with disabilities to develop independent expressive written language. Students develop their skills by writing for brief periods, first whatever comes to mind, then a self-selected topic, and subsequently a teacher-selected topic. (DB)

Four activities for the French language classroom are described, including a discussion of greenery in Paris, a reading comprehension exercise, an activity focusing on language styles and familiar expressions, and a study of Paris as portrayed in films. (MSE)

This guide was prepared to facilitate the practitioner's selection of formal tests for evaluating communicative behavior in clinical infant populations during the first year of life. Clinical instruments with particular emphasis on communication and emerging language and speech abilities were identified in terms of publishers' recommended…