This study explored the semantic content of spontaneous speech of 10 children (ages 4-5) during pretend play. More references to family were made during home play and to peers and self during preschool play. Use of daily routines and fantasy/cartoon characters as common play themes was analyzed. Discusses intervention programs for children with…

A study investigated the first words produced by 17 bilingual children (ages 1-4) speaking English and Mandarin Chinese from environments where both languages were spoken. A greater number of nouns than verbs were produced as first words in both English and Mandarin Chinese. Verbs were produced only in Mandarin Chinese. (Contains references.)…

A study examined the long- and short-term spectral characteristics of speech simultaneously recorded at the ear and at a reference microphone position. Twenty adults and 26 children (ages 2-4) produced 9 short sentences. Children's vocal levels were low in amplitude at both the ear and at the microphone position. (Contains references.) (CR)

This study compared 34 adults who had shown early delays in language (high functioning autism) with 42 similar individuals with no such delays (Asperger Syndrome). No significant differences were found between groups on the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), their social outcome ratings or ADI-R scores based on current functioning, or on…

A study considered the validity of portions of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (MCDI) for 50 pediatric cochlear implant users (ages 1-6) who exceeded the age ranges for which these inventories were normed. Results indicate MCDI scores plus age could be used to obtain Reynell Developmental Language Scales scores. (Contains…

Sampling spontaneous expressive language through video narration is offered as a means of reducing variability among language samples over time or from different speakers. Advantages include content stability, high interest value, and high processing demands. Disadvantages include brevity of the samples, lack of information on dyadic communication…

This paper presents a model for teaching written language to hearing-impaired students, emphasizing a high degree of student involvement with planning, revising, and rewriting as well as transcribing. Recommendations are made regarding direct instruction in necessary writing skills, including fluency, syntax, vocabulary, content, and conventions.…

The Cognitive Levels Test (CLT) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) were administered to 30 freshman college students at a small state college in the mid-Atlantic region. Significant correlations indicate that the PPVT-R measures a component of the CLT. Mean PPVT-R scores were significantly higher than CLT means. (Author/PB)

Two experiments investigated the effects of peer modeling on the acquisition of receptive and expressive language responses. Experiment 1 studied lexical learning among five children who were mildly/moderately developmentally disabled. Experiment 2 investigated the observational learning of receptive and expressive language responses by two…

Seven aphasic and seven normal adults described cartoon drawings and received one of three types of feedback (explicit, false, or implicit). Subjects' recodings showed that normal subjects used more expansion and deletion than aphasics. No significant differences existed between groups for repetition or revision. Subjects' responses varied…

The study found that teachers of students with severe disabilities can be taught to use a time delay procedure within their normal classroom routine and that the use of delay may have beneficial effects on their students' speech, such as increased mean length of utterance, responsivity, and movement along a continuum of spontaneity. (Author/DB)

Results of a study with four autistic students (ages five-nine) showed that a picture training procedure was effective in teaching a generalized response to questions for which the relevant cue was visible, whereas specific generalization programing was required for situations in which the relevant cue was not visible. (Author/DB)

This longitudinal case study follows the development of a woman with autism from mutism at age 10 to acquisition of a range of spoken and written language skills by age 26. Results support hypotheses that both spoken and written language may become feasible forms of communication in such cases, although some skills may plateau or decline.…

Examines the roles of instrumentality, expressivity, satisfaction with social support, and size of social network in predicting problem solving in 215 predominantly white undergraduates. Implications for the study of problem-solving skills and adaptive activities are discussed. (SLD)

This follow-up to a longitudinal speech and educational outcome study compared 24 adults (and their children) with history of moderate phonological-language disorder and 28 adults (and their children) with normal articulation as children. Children of the proband subjects performed significantly more poorly on all tests of articulation and…