The authors describe the development and role of story grammars and note the implications for assessment of story production and retelling, scrambled stories, and the macrocloze technique (testing the child's ability to predict or infer missing information). Remediation procedures for improving prediction skills and training story grammar…

The nature and development of discourse topic skills in preschool children are examined and illustrated by observations of very young children. Possible social and cognitive components are explored with implications for language-disordered populations. (CL)

The article examines clinical issues that must be considered in planning preschool language intervention aimed at integrating pragmatic theory into the treatment plan. The clinician's role in the process is examined, and solutions to problems in meeting individual needs within a group and being accountable are offered. (CL)

Methodological issues that may account for discrepant findings in research on mother-child dialogue are cited, and studies of normal language-learning children and their mothers are reviewed along with cross-cultural studies. How language impaired children act on their linguistic environment and within which interaction situations is seen as…

The paper addresses theoretical and practical issues in regard to first and second-language learning and language disorders. Information on bilingualism, bilingual education, assessment approaches, and personnel is presented. Among issues examined are simultaneous and sequential learning, code mixing and switching, and contrastive and error…

The article describes the organization of activities in an elementary classroom of language learning disabled Hispanic children and demonstrates how the use of ethnographic research methods can contribute to understanding the culture of the school. (CL)

Computer-assessed instruction and language intervention are reviewed; modifications of software usage are noted for individuals with language disorders; and the role of computer-managed instruction in language intervention is examined. Four case studies demonstrate the versatility of the microcomputer with this population. (CL)

A review of developmental studies concerning metaphor, idiom, and proverb comprehension suggest a variety of assessment tasks for language impaired children. Also suggested are such intervention considerations as the comprehension of literal meaning of figurative expressions before nonliteral meanings. (CL)

Six recently published language tests are examined in terms of theoretical models, choice of subtests, test format, reliability, norming population, and reporting scores. The tests are the Screening Test of Adolescent Language, the Word Test, the Test of Language Development-Intermediate, the Fullerton Language Tests for Adolescents, Clinical…

The discussion of older language disordered children's syntactic development focuses on an increase in T-units (minimal terminal units) and an expansion of types of cohesion (ways in which children tie their utterance structures together). Implications for assessment and treatment are drawn. (CL)

Use of reading and writing to enhance oral communication skills requires analysis of the individual's performance; understanding of the interaction among auditory, oral, and written language disorders; integration of speech-language and educational services; and attention to skills of phonemic discrimination, auditory verbal comprehension, word…

A language intervention model for language impaired adolescents is presented which rests on five general principles: (1) theoretical constructs, (2) student motivation, (3) counseling, (4) natural communication settings, and (5) group sessions. (CL)

The article describes results and methodological problems of general and specialized group followup studies of young language disordered children. In addition, predictive and case study approaches are summarized, and suggestions are offered for future studies. (CL)

An approach to treating mild to moderately severe cases of the speech disturbance, apraxia, focuses on helping the patient establish a conscious knowledge of how an accurate response is produced through a five-phase training program. (DB)

The literature on oral narrative comprehension, memory, and production abilities of language-learning-disabled students is reviewed. The relationship of these abilities to academic success is noted. (Author/DB)