Purpose: In this article, the author discusses 2 points raised by Kamhi (2014) in his lead article to this clinical forum: (a) the need for speech-language pathologists to consider typical language development as they plan intervention and (b) the importance of addressing complex syntax. Method: A hypothetical scenario of a 7th grade English class…

Purpose: This study was designed primarily to examine the use of abstract nouns and metacognitive verbs in the narrative writing of school-age children and adolescents. Method: Three groups of typically developing students ages 11, 14, and 17 years (n = 40 per group) were asked to write a story about something funny, sad, or scary that had…

Purpose: This prologue serves to introduce a research forum composed of studies that address the topic of stuttering in school-age children and adolescents. Researchers are encouraged to continue to build the knowledge base that sustains evidence-based practice in this area. Method: The nature of stuttering as it evolves from early childhood into…

Purpose: This prologue introduces a clinical forum on adolescent language disorders, a topic that has long been of interest to school-based speech-language pathologists/therapists. Method: A rationale for the clinical forum is provided, and the content is contrasted with a previous forum on the same topic that was published nearly 20 years ago.…

Purpose: This study examined knowledge of derived nominals (e.g., measurement, prediction) and derived adjectives (e.g., algebraic, molecular) in older children and young adolescents. Little was known about students' comprehension of these morphologically complex words that occur in textbooks that are used in public schools to teach challenging…

Purpose: Literacy plays an important role in the development of language in school-age children and adolescents. For example, by reading a variety of books, magazines, and newspapers, students gain exposure to complex vocabulary, and reading becomes a prime opportunity for learning new words. Despite the importance of reading for lexical …

Purpose: Persuasive writing is a demanding task that requires the use of complex language to analyze, discuss, and resolve controversies in a way that is clear, convincing, and considerate of diverse points of view. This investigation examined selected aspects of later language development in the context of persuasive writing. The purpose of the…

Proverb comprehension through reading was examined in 42 preadolescent students, 24 of whom were identified as "proficient readers," and 18 as "less proficient readers." Comprehension on both unfamiliar concrete and abstract proverbs was associated with reading proficiency, word knowledge, and analogical reasoning. (Contains references.)…

Although 12 preadolescents who had been diagnosed as language impaired during preschool performed as well as a control group on certain tests involving literal aspects of language and on a nonverbal intelligence test, they were deficient in understanding metaphoric sentences and in performing the cognitive task. (Author/CL)

This article introduces four papers (EC 612 460-EC 612 463) that were developed from two miniseminars presented at the 1992 and 1993 annual conventions of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The miniseminars addressed the topic of establishing language norms for school-age children and adolescents. (DB)

This article discusses word definitions within the context of language development in school-age children and adolescents. It explains the importance of the ability to define words, reviews the growth of word definition during school years, describes standardized tests, and offers suggestions for expanding the normative database for word…

Guidelines are offered for speech-language pathologists who seek to evaluate and enhance idiom comprehension in language-disordered students. The long-term goal of the treatment approach is for the student to acquire a specific comprehension strategy for determining the meanings of unfamiliar idioms. (Author/JDD)