Issues in Language and Cognition: Implications for Clinical Practice.

The author reviews the literature and considers clinical implications of three issues in language and cognition: the relationship between language and cognition, the strategies children use in the language-learning task, and the cognitive determinants of what children say. Examined are questions (such as whether cognitive skills are dependent on or prerequisite for linguistic skills) said to have bearing on the evaluation of language-disordered and learning disabled children; strategies children apply to determine the structure and meaning of language; and examples of the cognitive determinants in children's language (such as overextension in the meanings of words). (LS)