A study tested the relationship between prelinguistic pragmatic functions and later expressive vocabulary of 58 toddlers with mild to moderate developmental delays. Results indicate that rate of joint attention and rate of communication were statistically significant predictors of later expressive vocabulary. Rate of behavior regulation was not a…

Investigates communicative intent in 31 toddlers who were slow to talk and 32 normally developing toddlers matched on SES, age, and nonverbal cognitive ability. Communicative intent was studied during free play, both with the mother and with an unfamiliar examiner. Late talkers relied more on nonword vocalization, gestures, and gesture/oral…

A study of 458 6-year olds (204 prenatally exposed to cocaine), found low language children (n=57) were more likely to be cocaine exposed (63.1 percent), with cocaine-exposed children 2.4 times more likely to be in the low language groups compared with control children after adjustment for covariates. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This study examined the relationship among language proficiency, behavior problems, and other areas of development in 36 children (ages 36 to 40 months). A strong association was found between deficiencies in both expressive and receptive language and behavioral difficulties. Specifically, deficits in expressive language at age 2 were more…

This purpose of this randomized group experiment was (a) to test the post-treatment (i.e., immediately after treatment) and follow-up (i.e., 8 months after the end of treatment) efficacy of a treatment designed to facilitate both sentence length and speech intelligibility (i.e., broad target recast), and (b) to explore whether pretreatment speech…

Joint attention refers to an early developing set of behaviors that plays a critical role in both social and language development and is specifically impaired in children with autism. In a series of three studies, preschool teachers demonstrated the effectiveness of discrete trial instruction and pivotal response training strategies to teach joint…

Language used in situations in which speakers cannot rely on shared social, physical, or historical contexts has been referred to as "decontextualized." Many researchers believe that the use of decontextualized language is at the core of literacy--that reading and writing are consummate acts of decontextualization. Somewhat intermediate…

Toddlers with slow expressive language development were compared on three global measures of phonological behavior to age-mates with normal speech development. The measures were the average level of complexity of syllable structures, the number of different consonant phonemes produced, and the percentage of consonants correctly produced in…

This publication discusses the role of Language Sample Analysis (LSA) in identifying language disorders, providing detail necessary to initiate a focused intervention program, and providing a method for monitoring progress in language intervention. Section 1 provides an overview of the LSA process and types of language disorders, while Section 2…

This study investigated variables that might be associated with outcome differences in language development of 10 children (ages 10-20 months) with blindness or severe visual impairments, attending a developmental vision clinic in southern England. Subjects' early patterns of expressive language development were examined and related to observed…

This instructional guide for Alberta's (Canada) secondary school program in French second language instruction presents instructional plans and describes specific classroom techniques and activities for listening comprehension and oral production. Section 1 outlines the overall objectives and structure of the program. Section 2 addresses the…

Two research studies conducted at the bilingual Hostos Community College of the City University of New York suggest that the classroom performance of adult, advanced, and post English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students benefits from the students' participation in tutor-led groups that focus on a particular course's content and employ talk and…

Poets' working drafts and their comments on their processes indicate overwhelmingly that they, like experienced writers of other genres, are extensive revisers. The biggest difficulty with the term "revising" is that it designates both the changes made to a text and the mental processes and attitudes that underlie these changes. Even the…

Impromptu speech is heard only once, at a rate of perception that depends on the speaker's delivery, and is specifically adapted to the listeners. These features trigger cognitive activities that facilitate translation. Impromptu speech is characterized by a constant interconnection between cognitive competence and language competence and between…

Severely physically disabled people can be helped to reach their goals in educational, vocational, and personal pursuits through appropriate use of current technology. The expressive communication needs of people without functional speech can be met through an analysis of selection techniques, processing, and outputs. Examples of new systems…