Story retelling is suggested as a method to evaluate children's ability to comprehend, organize, and express language. (MKM)

Presents examples of classroom activities designed to improve reading through improved vocabulary. (RB)

Results showed that 12 language disordered children (four to six years old) selectively marked new information in verbal communication, just as normal children do. Language disordered and normal children, furthermore, manifested the same developmental sequence of strategies for deemphasizing old information. (Author/CL)

The results showed the schizophrenic group to be similar to the controls on verbal and full-scale intelligence measures but significantly inferior on performance measures. The schizophrenic group also showed a general disadvantage in paired associate learning, with a trend toward specific differential difficulty with words as stimulus items.…

Developmental changes in the expression of superordinates in children's word definitions were studied with 96 elementary school students. Superordination increased significantly and changed qualitatively with age, although across grades children produced more superordinates for nouns than for adjectives or verbs. (SLD)

Several reading experts comment on the whole language approach to teaching reading and on the whole language debate. Topics include definitions of whole language, characteristics, justifications, shortcomings, and critiques. (IAH)

Types and amount of private speech (aloud talking which is not addressed to another person) were assessed during the free play of 16 hyperactive and 16 non-hyperactive boys (6-10 years old). Verbalizations were coded into nine categories which denoted the boys' level of use of verbal control of their own behavior. Differences in amount and type of…

To determine whether children possess representations and concepts of space before they acquire verbal descriptions of these, children's formation of symbolic representations of space and their acquisition of verbal referents for them were observed. It was found for subjects in the study that conceptual representations of space relations were…

Teachers should enrich students' language environment, give children opportunities to practice their language, and allow feedback on language to occur. (DD)

Working with a sample of third-grade students, researchers compared two sentence-modeling curricula: one focusing exclusively on writing and the other, the Integrated Sentence-Modeling Curriculum (ISMC), combining language arts areas. Designed for elementary school students, the ISMC introduces children to complex syntactic structures by involving…

Reveals that the impact of training children with learning disabilities to verbalize a word-attack strategy was not as significant as had been suggested by previous research. (FL)

Uses a quasi-experimental design to compare the social adjustment of 21 children who received the Language for Learning program with those of 24 children enrolled in a comparison school. Finds that the Language for Learning program produced statistically and educationally significant effects, including improvements in social skills and reductions…

Language delayed children need systematic instruction, experience with a range of language functions, and opportunities for spontaneous speech. (DD)

Examines early literacy development as embedded within social contexts. Stresses the importance of approaches to teaching that build on children's earlier classroom experiences and strive to create literate communities in classrooms. (RAE)