This volume presents the findings of a large-scale study of individual differences in spoken (and heard) language development during the school years. The goal of the study was to investigate the degree to which language abilities at school entry were stable over time and influential in the child's overall success in important aspects of…

Introduces three papers (published in this issue) contrasting the development of gestures and sign language with spoken language in order to specify the nature of language plasticity (susceptibility to change) and robustness (invariance). Focuses on question of whether these are parallel systems or an integrated system with two forms of…

Tests Halliday's model of context/text relationships and how these relationships vary for 71 children in first, second, and third grades. Children produced oral and written messages about a circus in narrative and persuasive genres. Texts were analyzed for elements of linguistic cohesion and length of clausal themes. (Author/CB)

Accuracy-disabled and rate-disabled young Canadian readers were compared to children who were "fluent normal" readers. Children in the latter group decoded at the same level of accuracy as the rate-disabled subjects but at a significantly faster rate. Specific deficiencies of each of the disabled groups were identified. (Author/RH)

Oral language abilities in 20 boys (ages 9-13) with chronic behavior disorder were investigated, using 20 standardized language measures. Findings indicated generally poor or inconsistent language skills, with abstract concepts and linguistically complex structures particularly difficult. (Author/DB)

This document completes a series of four monographs that comprise a framework for describing children's development through the school years. Each monograph incorporates insights gained through research and practice. As a resource designed primarily for teachers, administrators, and curriculum designers, the document looks at the whole child as a…