This monograph describes the development of a language program for four-year-old disadvantaged boys in Northern Ireland. Various sections of the work describe the steps in devising the program; its objectives, organization, evaluations, and subsequent modifications; the problems affecting implementation, and the efforts made to overcome them; the effects of the intervention in relation to the benefits derived by the children, the teacher, and the school; and the results and the success of the program. A brief section that provides general guidelines for teachers who might wish to initiate a similar program is provided, and the work concludes with comments upon the characteristics, strategies, and tactics of implementing such an innovative program. Appendixes contain notes on the various units of the program, an outline for a typical session, suggestions regarding materials, a sample page from a lesson, and a lesson transcript. (FL)