Investigates children's early lexical development in English and Korean and compares caregivers' linguistic input in the two languages. Results indicate that young Korean children use verbs productively with appropriate inflections and that, unlike in English, both verbs and nouns in Korean are dominant categories from the single-word stage. (39…

Examined language differentiation in bilingual toddlers prior to the emergence of functional categories. The children were observed with each parent separately and both together. Results indicate that while these children did code mix, they were able to differentiate between their two languages. There was some evidence that language dominance…

Noting that young children learn to talk at different ages but within certain developmental boundaries, this document presents two charts to help parents facilitate their toddler's speech. The first chart lists characteristics to look for in a growing, healthy baby at various ages between 3 months and 24 months, and suggestions for when to talk to…

A cross-linguistic comparison of syntax acquisition patterns examined preferential subject omission in the naturally-occurring speech of three Japanese toddlers from the Tokyo area and compared the findings to data on English acquisition. Results indicate that acquisition patterns of Japanese do not mirror those of English with regard to this…

Investigates whether children ages 1;6 just beginning to learn words can learn new words in a variety of nonostensive contexts. The results of two studies involving adults interacting with children in games of searching for objects suggest that from very early in language acquisition, children learn words through active attempts to understand…

Investigates the color term knowledge of two-year olds and the influence of schooling on their color term acquisition. Findings reveal considerable knowledge in these children. Conclusions are that contemporary children's early and frequent experience with color terms may account for this cohort's improved performance over previous generations of…

This longitudinal case study examined the emergence of oral language skills in a child with deafness whose cochlear implant was activated at 20 months. Normal or above-normal rates of development were observed in decreased production of nonwords, increased receptive vocabulary, type-token ratio, regular use of word combinations, and phrase…

Discusses construction of the Hebrew Communicative Development Inventory (HCDI), an adaptation of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (MCDI). The HCDI was administered to a stratified sample of Israeli mothers of 253 toddlers. Results are presented and compared with scores from the MCDI. Results indicate that conclusions concerning…

This study examined parental report as a source of information about toddlers' productive vocabulary in 105 low-income families living in either urban or rural communities. Parental report using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory-Short Form (CDI) at child age 2;0 was compared to concurrent spontaneous speech measures and…

To examine language outcomes related to language acquisition and academic readiness, this study followed a group of toddlers with slow expressive language development (SELD) through their kindergarten year. Subjects were 27 children between 20 and 34 months who produced fewer than 50 words or no 2-word combinations on L. Resconla's (1989) Language…

Presents a longitudinal study on the acquisition of first-, second-, and third-person pronouns in 12 French- and 12 English- speaking children. Findings revealed that the mastery of pronouns did not follow the developmental sequence predicted by the speech-role hypothesis; the person-role hypothesis was valid when children were speaking; and the…

Toddlers in the lowest 10th percentile for lexical production were compared with age- and language-matched controls on measures of phonetic complexity, lexical development, and grammatical complexity. Results indicate an overlap between phonology, lexicon, and grammar and suggest the importance of true consonant production for lexical development.…

This article discusses how teachers and parents can help build children's communication skills. Children's language develops in predictable stages. Here, the author outlines these stages. She also gives suggestions to parents on how to help build their communication skills at home. Language learning takes place throughout the classroom. The author…

One of several guides developed by the California Department of Education for caregivers in centers and family child care homes, this guide offers information based on current theory, research, and practice that will support the language development and communication of infants and toddlers and their families. Each of the five sections focuses on…

This study investigated patterns of acquisition of English and Japanese by a toddler, aged 16-23 months, living in Japan. The child's mother and father are British and Japanese, respectively. The focus of the study was on early grammatical morpheme and transformational rule acquisition as demonstrated in the child's utterances. The study is…