Child Language Teaching and Therapy

Three context-sensitive phonological patterns observed in two children with poor intelligibility are described. Although the children used par ticular consonants correctly or exhibited common errors on these sounds, in certain contexts the errors were quite unusual. Examples are provided of how knowledge of the operative contexts can influence the direction taken for phonological treatment.

The frequency, structure and sophistication of clarification requests with in a mother—language-impaired child dyad were examined. The mother— child dyad was videotaped in free-play situations before and after the onset of therapy. The data indicated that the clarification request was a consistent feature of both mother and child's interactive style. Both members of the dyad equally shared the floor for initiating clarification requests, both were usually successful in obtaining clarification, and both used a limited number of the clarification request categories. A developmental trend was observed. Remedial implications are discussed.

This paper describes how the needs of children with specific language difficulties are assessed and met in Liverpool. It describes (a) the assessment procedure at the Child Development Centre, in particular the joint assessment of language and cognition; (b) the links between the child development centre and the Liverpool language units; and (c) the inter disciplinary way in which this is done. It is argued that the main strengths of this set-up are continuity of care, answerability to parents, and the effective use of resources.

The development of the Panjabi Bilingual Version of the Sentence Comprehension Test is described. Comparison data on samples of children aged three to five years are reported.

Professionals in education and health services are experiencing a growing number of possibilities for application of computer technology to aid in the delivery of services. Recent developments in database management soft ware for small, inexpensive computers now provide these individuals opportunities for radical departures from the more traditional ways of managing information. Software, known generically as interactive-data base management software, is being utilized for client record management, maintaining data on client progress, personnel management, and financial records. This article provides a brief presentation of a few basic concepts in database management techniques and simple examples of how interactive- database management software might be used by a professional in education and health.