A naturalistic study looked at the acquisition of English by two Japanese boys, aged 4 and 8 years, during a 2.5-year stay in the United States. Data were collected through observation and transcription of spontaneous speech in daily life. Analysis included a variety of features of language use and of the acquisition process, including attitudes…

This study examined television viewing patterns among 89 children of 2 and 4 years of age and their families. The purpose was to describe television and VCR viewing patterns among young children as a function of family characteristics and media options in the home. Information about family structure, income, media availability, child care…

This report builds upon the "State of the South, 1996" report by concentrating on how various segments of the region's population are faring, with special attention to gender, ethnicity, and education. States included in the regional analysis are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,…

The current status of intergenerational education in vocational education programs at the secondary school level was assessed in a Pennsylvania study. A literature review expanded upon the rationale for adult education, further defined the complex system of adult education, and introduced intergenerational education in a long history of adult…

This book provides an overview of research and thinking on age-related dimensions of language acquisition, intended for students, researchers, and educators with some experience in linguistics and applied linguistics. The first chapter introduces the variety of issues associated with age and language acquisition. Chapter 2 examines the evidence…

Despite considerable linguistic diversity in Kenya, the country is increasingly trilingual, with individual Kenyans tending toward varying degrees of proficiency in the vernacular, Swahili, and English. The vernacular is acquired at home and in the neighborhood with co-ethnics in both rural and urban contexts. Swahili is typically learned…

A meta-analysis was conducted of 137 studies investigating the effects of father absence due to employment, military service, death, divorce, separation, or desertion on children's cognitive performance as assessed by scores on standardized intelligence, scholastic aptitude, and academic achievement tests and school grades. Aggregation of the…

The 25 selected papers contained in this volume reflect the current diversity of interests and research methods within the field of sociolinguistics. Titles include: "What is a Language?"; "The Unreality of Quantitative Figures"; "Addressee-Oriented Features in Spoken Discourse"; "Women's Speech, Women's…

Americans generally lack foreign language competence, and their exposure to foreign languages in the United States is inadequate. Foreign language instruction is deficient in both quality and quantity, and although there are indications of improvement in both areas, it will be many years before the effects of improvements are clear. The…

This report summarizes three related studies of 3- to 5-year-old children's temperament and its relationship to their social competence, ability to solve interpersonal problems, locus of control, parent behavior and teacher/child interactions. Fifty-eight children, predominantly middle class participants in a laboratory preschool, and their…

This report is based on an in-depth study of early education in five multicultural primary schools in England's West Midlands. The aim of the study was to identify developments and features of organization that facilitate communication between teachers and children and among the children themselves. Specifically examined were the abilities of 247…

As part of a longitudinal study of the New York State Experimental Prekindergarten Program (PreK), several measures were administered to the four-year-old children in the fall of 1975 and to a sample of the same children in the spring of 1976. Analyses of covariance were carried out on three measures of cognitive development with one of five…

Studies from several countries are described in this review of literature pertinent to assigning day care children to multi-age or homogeneous age groups. Three issues are discussed in this regard: (1) What difference does it make how one groups children? The answer is that a profound difference to children, staff, and parents may occur in terms…

Similarities and differences between adult and traditional-aged students were analyzed based on a survey of 13 cohorts of first-year college freshmen. A sample of 172,400 first-year students over the age of 21 who responded to the Cooperative Institutional Research Program's freshman survey between 1966 and 1978 was compared to a nationally…

Test results were consolidated from needs assessments or program evaluations conducted between 1969 and 1978, and extensively analyzed. About 120,000 elementary and secondary students and their parents were tested; the majority of the sample is from the Southeast, and of these the largest number are from Alabama. Five tests were interpreted: (1)…