Background: Nonverbal communication abilities, including gesture use, are impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little is known about how common gestures may influence or be influenced by other areas of development. Aims: To examine the relationships between gesture, fine motor and language in young children with ASD compared with a…

The saying "I can understand English but I can't speak" is so commonly used by Turkish people that it would be fair to state that not being able to speak English has almost become a syndrome in society. This study delves into the causes of this syndrome. In two state high schools, 293 high school students filled out a questionnaire…

The association between monolingual children's early language abilities and their later reading performance is well established. However, for English language learners, the pattern of associations between early language skills and later literacy is much less well understood for English language learners. This study examined language predictors of…

Reflective thinking is an important feature of study-abroad learning, yet research on reflection in this context is sparse. The current study examined student reflection on 3 content areas (Academic Expectations, Cultural Expectations, and Psychological Issues) at 3 times (before, during, and after study abroad). A content analysis approach with…

Investigations of early vocabulary production often employ a single method to measure children's word use. This study examined expressive vocabulary development in children aged 1;0-2;6 years through a combination of picture naming, caregiver report and language sampling. The participants were predominantly exposed to Maltese at home, with…

Research has revealed that the academic performances of learners in South Africa are below the required level. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) launched the literacy and numeracy strategy 2006-2016 in response to the low literacy and numeracy levels. In addition, the WCED introduced the Grade 1 baseline assessment in 2006, as part of…

Research Findings: Children from immigrant families are more likely than children of native parents to start school with fewer of the academic skills that are important for long-term success, although evidence on behavioral skills is mixed. Center-based early education and care (EEC) programs, which have been linked to improvements in academic…

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine within-group individual differences in the code-related and oral language abilities of an economically stressed Spanish-speaking English language learner (ELL) preschool sample and to evaluate the predictive relationship of these differences to later listening comprehension. Latent class…

This study seeks to examine the existence of Instant Messaging language phenomenon among female teenagers in some Jordanian private schools and its influence on their learning experience, mainly literacy. It also raises questions about the characteristics of textese as well as teachers' attitude towards their students' use of SMS language in their…

A 10-year-old boy with autism was part of an evaluation of an innovative intervention focused on improving communication skills. His school was using the minimal speech approach (Potter and Whittaker, 2001) with all children in accordance with government guidance. The pupil's receptive language had not been formally assessed due to his lack of…

This study examined single-word code-mixing produced by bilingual preschoolers in order to better understand lexical choice patterns in each language. Analysis included item-level code-mixed responses of 606 five-year-old children. Per parent report, children were separated by language dominance based on language exposure and use. Children were…

Adolescents sometimes cut themselves to relieve distress; however, the mechanism is unknown. Previous studies have linked self-injury to deficits in processing emotions symbolically through language. To investigate expressive language of adolescent cutters, the authors analyzed 100 narratives posted on the Internet. Most narratives (n = 66)…

Children, like adults, use referring expressions to refer to specific objects, events, or people. Research has provided insights into how children use referring expressions and the appearance of forms developmentally (Radford, 1990; Abu-Akel, et al., 2004; Pine & Lieven, 1997). This study examined how three, four, and five year-old children…

Few studies explore parent-implemented literacy interventions in the home language for young children with problems in language acquisition. A shift in children's use of the home language to English has been documented when English is the only language of instruction. When parents are not proficient in English, such language shift can limit…

Objectives: To compare differences in autism between Hispanic and non-Hispanics. We also examined the relationship between multiple language exposure and language function and scores of children. Methods: The Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) study is an ongoing population-based case-control study with children…