Richard R. Kretschmer

Issues in the Development of School and Interpersonal Discourse for Children Who Have Hearing Loss

English instruction for children with haring loss has traditionally focused on teaching about language conventions, with much less attention to learning language, or to learning through language-especially its discourse features. The author argues that language intervention, through the collaborative efforts of speech-language pathologists and teachers, should promote communication interactions that emphasize English discourse that facilitates interpersonal and school language learning. Particular focus in this article is on issues of teacher talk, talk around print, self-talk in problem-solving, and the uses of narrative and descriptive discourse in interpersonal and school contexts.

Language Behaviors of Mothers of Children with Normal and Delayed Language

The language behavior of mothers of children with normally developing language was compared to that of mothers of children whose overall development appeared normal except for delayed expressive la...

A Study of the Clarification Strategies of Mentally Retarded Children

This study was designed to investigate the use of conversational strategies by metally retarded children in response to a situation of communication failure. Responses to clarification resquest during spontaneous conversation showed that regardless of language stage, revision of the original utterance was the primary strategy used, rather than repetition or response. Subcategories of revision were expanded to include revision in manner of production, constituent revision, and topic revision. There was a significant increase in the use of revisions across language stages, but no revision subcategory group was used significantly more often than the others.

Lebanese/Arabic and American Children's Discourse in Group-Solving Situations.

This research describes and analyses the type of verbal discourse and interactions among the children in a group-solving situation. Two groups of five children ages 6, 7 and 8, from two different cultures, were observed: one at an English-speaking summer camp in Beirut, Lebanon, and another at a parallel site, a neighbourhood group in Kentucky, in the United States. The same researcher conducted both studies and English was the language of communication. Audiotapes as well as videotapes and transcriptions were use as means for data collection. A comparative microethnographic analysis was applied to find relationships between the different verbal and nonverbal interactions and interpret the process used by the different cultures in similar situations. The rate and type of utterances as well as nonverbal moves were recorded. Evidence of commonalities between the children’s verbal cognitive as well as the semantic aspect of the language was observed. More difference was observed in the nonverbal and perlocutionary acts in some segments of the discourse. Difference was also recorded in the intensity of interactions and the type of utterance and propositions produced during both groups’ discourses.

Dual agenda: social participation and academic instruction in a developmental kindergarten

The classroom is both a social occasion and a learning place. In this study of a developmental kindergarten, this dual classroom agenda and the impact on teacher and student behavior is explored. Among the at‐risk children in this study, these two classroom purposes did not peacefully coexist. Social‐participation goals took precedence for the children. The teacher, frustrated in her need to “get through the lesson,” interfered with group formation, causing students to work even harder at social connections. The implications of the recognition of these two agendas for young children with special needs are discussed.