This study of 26 children (ages 8-12) with hearing impairment found that the degree of hearing loss and spoken language competence independently affected the ability to understand the information presented on commercial and educational television programs. Language skills were a stronger predictor of comprehension than the degree of hearing loss.…

The study evaluated prediction of language quality using 3 approaches (neurodevelopmental, cognitive, and combination) with 37 developmentally delayed children (ages 5-9). Results indicated that these children had language and speech delays that showed substantial relationships to their verbal cognitive abilities and fine motor skills, in addition…

This study focused on English as L2 in a group of Norwegian dyslexic 12 year olds, compared to an age and gender matched control group. Norwegian school children learn English from the first grades on. The subjects were assessed with a test battery of verbal and written tasks. First, they were given a comprehension task; second, a model sentence…

In light of the correlation between musical and linguistic skills, a program of musical activities was designed to promote discrimination of rhythmic and melodic elements and the association of auditory stimuli with visual stimuli and motor activities. The effects of the program on the vocabulary of preschool children were evaluated and compared…

The relationship of verbal skills to performance on the National Teacher Examinations Core Battery Test of General Knowledge was examined, using data from the June 1986 national administration. Differences in General Knowledge scores for self-identified Black and White examinees were found and were shown to interact with levels of achievement on…

This paper describes an experiment that was undertaken to examine the usefulness of the cloze test as an objective measure of a native speaker's writing ability. A modified version of the cloze test used by Oller and others to measure integrative language skills in non-native speakers was given to 100 freshman English students. The test…

A study varied a formal testing situation to encourage verbalization in black, inner-city nursery school children. The children were asked to identify items from the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test in either a test situation (looking at the stimulus jointly with an adult) or a "need to know" situation (looking at the stimulus alone). It…

The program outlined in this document has been based on the premises that the communication skills form the basis for achievement in other areas and are interwoven with personal development and self-concept, and that working on language development involves increasing children's abilities to use sounds, the structure of the language, grammatical…

To develop and test a scheme for analyzing adult-child verbal interaction, tape recordings of such interactions were made in 12 homes representing high verbal ability and average verbal ability. Dialogues obtained were coded in nine categories of utterances, and their frequency and patterning were related to the verbal ability of the 12 7 1/2- to…

This paper contends that communicative competence should be the organizational principle in foreign language teaching, and outlines a proposed communication-oriented language teaching unit. Its advantages in both teaching and learning are discussed. (CHK)

Study examined the effect of mode of discourse (narration and argument) on the syntactic complexity of compositions written by sixth, tenth, and twelfth graders. At each level, syntactic complexity was greater in argument. Findings suggested that while syntactic complexity increases with age, increases tend to level off earlier in narrative…

A study examined the differences between 17 children with language disorders and 20 children with normal language development (ages 8-13) in the way they developed shared knowledge with an adult using an interactive communication task. The structure interaction map task involved the child describing a route through a simple schematic map to an…

A study was conducted using a longitudinal, multivariate, multimethod approach to determine the effects of parent education programs on black mothers and children from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. Black infants from lower status communities, ages 22-41 months, were evaluated during the early intervention study. Instruments used included…

This study examined the specific effects of picture and object stimuli on two types of language performance: comprehension and performance. Subjects were 48 4- and 5-year-olds who were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Groups were matched for SES, sex, and age and tested individually with one of the four measures: language comprehension…