The first study investigates the validity of the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument as a diagnostic tool for differenciating the ability of language impaired preschoolers to use language to communicate complex ideas. The second study evaluates the relative effectiveness of two software environments that were expected to enhance children's…

Describes a lexical training program developed to teach object, visible movement, and invisible movement words to children at stage 5 (N=7) and stage 6 (N=16) object permanence development. Stage 6 children learned all three types of words equally well, while stage 5 children learned object and visible movement but not invisible movement words.…

The study, "Young Children Learning," used a sample of 30 four-year-old girls to examine children's language development, their cognitive processing, and the differential effects of home backgrounds. Discussed are the development of girls and the ideas that are being presented to them both implicitly and explicitly by home and school.…

Discusses the importance of providing opportunities for children to learn through talk with an adult and contains excerpts from transcripts of parent-child and teacher-student conversations. (DF)

New psychological and educational tests designed for more valid assessment of handicapped children are described and evaluated. The instruments reviewed include the Diagnostic Spelling Potential Test, Language Inventory for Teachers, Test of Language Development: Primary, Neuropsychological Questionnaire, Nonverbal Test of Cognitive Skills, and…

This guide is designed to help the speech language pathologist teach families language facilitation techniques and to teach basic receptive and expressive skills to preschool children who are nonverbal or have little expressive language. The program's goal is to improve language skills through social interaction including conversations, turn…

Educators, researchers, and policymakers now acknowledge the importance of early childhood education for all preschool children. Unfortunately, studies have found that while most preschool children spend at least a portion of their days in care outside the home, they are not in settings of sufficient quality to produce later learning outcomes.…

Discusses the characteristics of a nurturing and of a constraining classroom environment and the effects of each on children's learning to write. (HTH)

Examined the pattern of deletion of final "/t/" and "/d/" in word final consonant clusters in 3- and 4-year-old children (n=16) and their degree of mastery of phonological and grammatical constraints. Results indicate that children as young as three had mastered the phonological constraints on (-t, d) deletion and that the…

The performance of 24 language-disordered children (ages 3-8) on an ambiguity detection task was compared to that of children matched for comprehension level and children matched for cognitive level. It is concluded that communicative factors, both active primary comprehension and social communicative knowledge, had a stronger influence than the…

Presented is a case study of a boy who could not process language auditorily even though he had normal hearing. The boy, who was hyperactive and had a monosyllabic vocabulary at the age of four, received training on speech patterns through sign language and repetition and became a high-achieving student. (JDD)

Considers intellectual and affective reasons for telling tales with young children, placing special emphasis on cultural and restorative effects of storytelling. Offers suggestions for helping young children become reflective--capable of valuing their cultural heritage and coping with personal difficulties. Includes guidelines for helping children…

The principles and techniques useful in designing a phonological awareness training program for children at risk for reading disabilities are discussed. The paper asserts that speech-language pathologists have the training, clinical expertise, and opportunity to play an integral role in such programs. (Author/JDD)

Ten two-year-old children with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), a brain injury associated with prematurity, were evaluated using language samples. The five children with delayed cognitive ability produced significantly fewer lexical tokens and spontaneous verbal utterances than did chronological age-matched nondelayed PVL children. (Author/DB)

Two parent report inventories geared at assessing language skills in toddlers are examined, in terms of reliability, validity, and application. The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory: Toddlers and the Language Development Survey are compared and their combined use in handicap identification is discussed. (PB)