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Reviews Language & Learning Disorders of the Preacademic Child with Curriculum Guide, Tina E. Bangs, 293 pp., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 2nd ed., 1982. This edition is filled with current information on topics including PL 94-142, language acquisition , learning theory, program design, and instructional projects. Every page is filled with valuable information for teachers of children under age six. Unfortunately, chapter 10 contains inaccuracies in the section titled "Oral and Manual Systems ." The author has confused information on the differences and origins of Signed English and the SEE systems. Another error on the subject of Total Communication, "Proponents of the system believe that children eventually will drop signs (emphasis added) and develop better oral communication skills." To my knowledge, this has never been an underlying tenet of the philosophy—on the contrary, signs are considered of equal importance to speech. The subtle implication here is that signs are somehow "less" than speech. Incorrect summaries such as this of the philosophy perpetuate damaging misconceptions by the lay person. The author has done an admirable job of translating theory to practice by providing teaching techniques, curriculum guides, developmental scales, case history forms, and examples of teacher made tests. This volume would be an important addition to the library of individuals who work with young children. Jan H. DuBois Family Education and Early Intervention Program Maryland School for the Deaf Frederick, Maryland The Sounds Of Speech Communication: A Primer Of Acoustic Phonetics And Speech Perception, J. M. Pickett, Ph.D., 249 pp., $19.95, University Park Press, 233 East Redwood Street, Baltimore, Md. 21202,1980. In his book Pickett presents the basic principles of acoustic phonetics in a logical, lucid manner . Early sections present concepts of speech production, sound, resonance, and spectrum analysis in terms that should be comprehended with ease by the undergraduate student in a speech science course. Later chapters that deal with vowel shaping and effects of place and manner of constrictions of the oro-pharyngeal cavity on visible and acoustic portrayals of speech sounds become somewhat more complex but should be particularly helpful for student and professionals working with the hearing impaired or deaf and for those interested in speech perception. Very brief reviews of historical approaches to methods of investigation along with reviews of current literature and directions of research enable the reader to follow the progression. Summaries at the end of the later, more technical chapters are presented in table form to facilitate a succinct review of the research discussed. One criticism is the placement of some of the figures which makes referring from figure to text awkward. The final chapter presents brief explanations of motor theories of speech perception. Twelve laboratory exercises designed to illustrate specific principles discussed in each chapter are appended. The theoretical material on speech perception is sparse; the results of current work in infant and adult speech perception are not included in this text. Elaine Luskey, Ph.D. Professor Speech and Language Pathology Cleveland State University Cleveland, Ohio 44115 Gestures, Desmond Morris, Peter Collett, Peter Marsh, and Marie O'Shaughnessy, 296 pp., $12.95, Stein and Day, Briarcliff, N.Y. 10510. As in his books The Naked Ape and Manwatching , anthropologist Desmond Morris provides, in Gestures, a fascinating and enjoyable account of the origins and meanings of 20 key gestures. The authors settled on the 20 symbolic gestures from a large number of possible alternatives, identified in interviews of 1,200 people throughout 40 localities in 25 countries, involving 15 different languages. At each of the 40 locations, 30 adult male subjects were selected at random in public places—such as restaurants, parks, bars, streets, squares, and quay-sides—and were shown a sheet of standard drawings depicting the 20 key gestures. If there was any doubt about a particular drawing, the investigator would then enact the gesture to provide additional information. Some of the author's findings included the realization (a) that many of the gestures had several major meanings; (b) that many of the gestures crossed national and linguistic boundaries ; (c) that certain of the gestures showed ranges that stopped, sometimes quite abruptly, within a particular linguistic area; (d) that in 390 A.A.D. I August 1982...

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