For the two children studied and in the situations observed and recorded, important conditions for the emergence of language in the ontogeny of communication appear to be: (1) interaction with caretaking adults, (2) shared focal attention, and (3) specificity of reference. (Author)

The relationship between interactive play and the frequency of related responding to comments was investigated within the dyadic interactions between a language impaired 4-year-old and 4 normal language users. While the frequency of related responses was variable for the subject, the frequencies of related responses of normal children were…

Summarizes recent theory on communicative processes in language use, on the creation and exchange of meaning, and on the negotiation of roles in the classroom. Suggests exercises for activating and developing interactive skills between speakers and hearers in the foreign language. (EKN)

Discusses the use of stereotyped speech patterns as teaching material or as the basis of communicative exercises. Gives examples of the use of these gambits in drills and exercises in German. (EKN)

Reading, self-esteem, auding, and verbal language levels were measured for 132 youths and adults entering a tutorial program. Results showed that the subjects had low levels of auding, verbal language, and reading, but self-esteem was not significantly related to the other variables. Auding and verbal language skills were shown to be important to…

Two transitional phases in the child's early language development are described; the first occurs between prelinguistic vocalization and one-word speech and the second between one-word and patterned speech. Cognitive, linguistic and affective inputs to the acquisition of reference and syntax are discussed in the light of the transitional…

Investigates the development of past tense expressions in the speech of children from 1.6 to 2.6. It is shown that this development depends crucially on the child's cognitive construction of the time dimension, as described by Piaget. (Author/RM)

Interpersonal functions of everyday caretaker speech usage are examined when addressed to toddlers, threes and fours. Results support hypotheses derived from Piagetian theory concerning early developments in ego-differentiation. (Author/RM)

Noting that children's talk makes some of their thinking visible and thereby provides a ready tool for early childhood teachers, this chapter focuses on the process of language acquisition. The chapter provides a historical context for language in early childhood education, discussing the nature of language and its acquisition, the development of…

A withdrawn adolescent, an outpatient at a mental health clinic, was the subject for this case report. Baseline data were collected on the frequency of the subjects' verbalizations. The subject was then instructed to record his own verbal behavior. The subject "earned" his way out of the mental health clinic by increasing his verbal behavior to an…

Article devoted attention to the effect television has on verbal ability and development and the manner in which television may serve as a model for language usage. Author also outlined some of the limitations imposed on language by television. (Author/RK)

This study seeks to determine the extent to which elementary school children utilize the approaches which were taught them in their word-analysis (Decoding) program. (Author)

Suggests that disadvantaged children may be verbally illiterate but have a high degree of visual literacy. Work with visual signs, compositions, and experiences through the child's use of a camera seems to improve the child's verbal development and also may improve his written composition. Bibliography. (RW)

Children aged 6 to 13 years were given verbal and nonverbal fluency tasks and block design subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Results, providing normative data, showed that fluency tasks are age-, but not sex-dependent, and are modestly correlated to one another. (Author/CM)