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This document details Canada's mission to safeguard and improve the health and well-being of all Canadian children and youth and presents eight national goals through which Canada plans to fulfill that mission. The document is presented in three parts. Part 1 describes the development of national goals, including their origin in the underlying principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a consideration of a broad view of child and adolescent health, the responsibility of federal governments acting on behalf of the public, the 4-year consultation process used to develop the goals, and the results of reviews by aboriginal communities in Canada. Part 2 of the document details eight national goals: (1) value all children and youth in Canada and share responsibility for their healthy development; (2) support families in their role as the primary caregivers of children; (3) make health promotion and prevention of disease, disability, and injury among children and youth a priority of healthy public policies; (4) reduce child and youth poverty; (5) protect children and youth from abuse, violence, inequity, and discrimination; (6) ensure that young people have opportunities to participate in decisions about their healthy development and encourage them to make healthy life choices; (7) strengthen the capacity of communities to promote and improve healthy child and youth development; and (8) develop collaborative, cost-effective strategies to achieve measurable improvements in health outcomes for children and youth. Part 3 of the document describes initiatives at the community, provincial, and federal levels to meet these national goals. (KB)

A study investigated the degree to which the page layout of a book affects the young reader's association of text with appropriate illustrations. Four hundred native French-speaking third-graders in eight Montreal (Canada) schools participated. In a third-grade text about animals, the names of the animals illustrated in pictures and other words were omitted from eight paragraphs and replaced by blanks. Eight versions of the booklet were made with different layouts of illustrations and text, some regularly and some irregularly pairing text with illustration. Subjects were required to read the texts and fill in the blanks. Responses were compared with the words in the original text and examined for correspondence or confusion with the nearby illustrations. It was found that comprehension was best on the version in which the pictures were on the page facing the text. Comprehension was also good for layouts in which text and illustration were both on right-hand pages. Sequence (i.e., picture following text or picture preceding text) had a much less significant effect on comprehension. Some additional comprehension effects were found to occur according to layout. (MSE)

This study on the African child had three objectives: (1) to become familiar with the environment of the African child, (2) to investigate the vocabulary to which the child is exposed at home and at school, and (3) to compare the vocabulary of the native language with that of the school. The first part of the study constituted a linguistic study of the family situation to discover the lexical repertory of the child in his or her native language, Basaa, as well as in the French language used in school. The second part took account of the fact that the child grows up simultaneously in two worlds, the African cultural milieu and the educational milieu. The child's native culture forms the child's understanding and organization of meaning; the educational milieu uses a language whose form and content imply many realities totally foreign to the child. Part three compared the data from Cameroon children with similar data from French children as well as vocabulary of the native language and the language of the school. (Author/AMH)

This is a report on a study of the attitudes of French-speaking young people, aged 10 to 17 years, toward French as it is spoken in two sectors of Quebec City. One sector, Sainte-Foy, is mainly upper middle class; the other, Saint-Sauveur, is economically and socially disadvantaged. The research was carried out on the basis of work in French and American sociolinguistics, and all the young people were interviewed both formally and informally over a period of several months. The body of the report is given in four chapters covering the following material: (1) discussion of American and French sociolinguistics, explanation of the project, the research methodology and method of analysis, levels of language and style, analysis of spoken language, and a note on "Joual"; (2) language as a communication tool and as a social marker, including a discussion of linguistic and extralinguistic variables, four styles of spoken French, and what it means to belong to a linguistic community; (3) the relationship between language and social-economic class, attitudes toward language as spoken at school, class consciousness, and linguistic "habitus" versus linguistic community; and (4) variation in attitudes toward the French language in the two sectors studied. The individual questionnaires given to pre-adolescents and adolescents are appended. (AMH)

This study is divided into two major sections. The first, the study of language in a sociolinguistic perspective, includes: (1) an analysis of the attitudes associated with linguistic variation, and a review of (2) studies conducted in French Quebec, (3) the linguistic and cultural deficit theories, (4) the theory of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural differences, and (5) the theory of linguistic adaptation. The second section reports on the research conducted in the study. Areas reviewed are methodology, the physical distribution in Quebec, choice of informants, the role of the researcher, and the interviewing of students and parents. These interviews sought to determine the attitudes of preadolescent, adolescent, and ten year old students in two different quarters of Quebec. The discussion of results includes a transcription of an individual interview and sample questionnaires. The results indicate that the students expressed attitudes reflecting different levels of French language proficiency when comparing their own speech to their concept of a norm of proficiency. In analyzing variation in language use in both quarters of Quebec, it is concluded that linguistic behavior is tied into the social function of the speakers. (JK)

The proceedings of the fourth colloquium of the Groupe de recherche en didartique des langues (Language Teaching Research Group) include eleven papers and four synopses. The papers, three in English (E) and the rest in French (F), cover these topics: cognitive presence in language teaching/learning (F); interlanguage and metalanguage (F); interrelations between cognitive and affective dimensions in language learning (F); cerebral mechanisms and learning processes (F); neurolinguistic evidence on cognitive processes in language learning and teaching (E); the role of cognitive styles and manual preference in foreign language learning (E); cognitive development and the bilingual child (F); cognition and language: toward a dynamic conception of language (F); parameters in the acquisition of foreign languages (F); cognitive processes in learning the target language's phonological system (F); and the moment of reference to the known in the making of a new utterance (F). The synopses include summaries of pedagogical, metalinguistic, and neurolinguistic perspectives of the conference, and a summary of the conference in general. (MSE)

Results of a study of the differences between standard French and Acadian French as spoken by Nova Scotian children are presented. The study had as subjects 24 school children, two each from first, second, and third grades from each of four geographic regions. The language corpus consisted of elicited descriptions of pictures and spontaneous interviews. The lexical elements (words and phrases) in which differences between the regional usages and standard French were found are compiled in an alphabetical listing, with notes on regional variation. An index lists grammatical form classes and their salient morphological and syntactic variations. Pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed briefly. A bibliography is included. (MSE)

Based on the hypothesis that cognition and sleep are linked, this study compared the sleep patterns of nine children (ages 6-16) with autism with those of children with mental retardation and no disabilities. The children with autism were observed for two consecutive nights at a laboratory where their sleep patterns were recorded. Results found differences between the sleep patterns of the children with autism and other children. Children with autism exhibited reduced frequency of rapid eye movements, which is an index of organizational capacity. The sleep patterns support the idea that autistic children exhibit major deficits in organizing information. The findings are felt to explain the effectiveness of the TEACCH method proposed by Scopler and others, which presents information to autistic children in a highly organized and structured way. The paper concludes that the psychological differences found between children with autism and with intellectual disabilities suggest that these children should not be mixed together for their education. (CR)

Alcohol poses a significant threat to young people. Ways in which to warn children between the ages of 8 and 13 about the dangers of alcohol are presented in this book. It is a health education text containing precise information presented in a simple way, through the use of fictional characters who are vividly portrayed in pictures and straightforward dialogue. It discourages the child from starting to drink by pointing out the dangers of such action, but its main purpose is to enable children to avoid any kind of addiction. The text uses a fictional character, a young Arab student, who is enticed into drinking alcohol. The story follows him as drinking leads him into dire circumstances, and as he wrestles with tough decisions and difficult situations. Explicit information on how alcohol affects the brain, the danger of alcoholism, the consequences of alcohol use, and other issues surrounding addiction are discussed. Family and peer influences are explored and positive ways in which children can focus their energies are presented. The text features vibrant pictures that emphasize the sensations and dangers of alcohol use. All text, including title and prefactory material, is provided in three languages: Arabic, French, and English. (RJM)

Describes work of Father Javier de Nicolo, who has worked for 20 years with street children in Bogota, Colombia. Lists and discusses de Nicolo's principles for working with and educating street children, which are based on acceptance and respect. Describes two successful programs that have helped street children stabilize their lives and helped compensate for lack of biological families. (DR)

A discussion of communicative language teaching of children of about eight focuses on their unique communication capacities and needs, particularly in the school environment, on the importance of teaching communication strategies as a social and linguistic tool, on developing metalinguistic competence, and on the role of the imagination in learning. (MSE)

Offers information on the sexual abuse of children and its prevention. Describes a study to validate an instrument to assess children's acquisition of knowledge about personal security and the prevention of sexual abuse as presented in the Child Abuse Research and Education (CARE) program in Montreal, Quebec. Confirms the validity of the program and the questionnaire. (AC)

Structural changes that have taken place in Canadian families in recent decades are described in this booklet. Topical sections are as follows: (1) What Counts in Canadian Families (importance of (importance of family); (2) The Family--Variations on a Theme origins, family structure, seniors aged 60 and over, how lives are spent, religion); (3) Families Are Changing in Size and Structure (e.g., marriages and divorces, remarriage, causes of lone parenthood, age at first marriage, age at parenthood, average number of births per woman); (4) How Today's Families Are Making Ends Meet (e.g., family income, one- and two-wage earner families, poor families with children); (5) How Families Care for Each Other (e.g., where the elderly live, seniors needing help, child care need); and (6) Beyond Families: Who's Responsible? (brief answers to questions about handling problems without family support). Each section is illustrated with statistical data in graph form. Among the statistical information presented are the following: 85 percent of all young people aged 15 to 24 intend to have children; 37 percent of Canadians over age 15 have at least one foreign-born parent; the population aged 65 and over is the fastest growing segment; and children living with a lone-parent mother are five times more likely to live in poverty than those living with two parents. A French version of the booklet accompanies the English one. Contains 30 references. (LB)

The document, in both English and French, describes a 2-year project in Guyana based on the principle of community-based rehabilitation (CBR), which stresses training local community residents as supervisors to provide training of rehabilitation workers and direct services to children with disabilities living in rural areas. The program provided twice-weekly training over 15 months to 30 volunteers and 25 nursery school teachers. Trainees then introduced a training program to a total of 53 children in cooperation with family members. Program evaluation was predominantly positive. Volunteers were more effective than the nursery school teachers who participated as part of their normal work week. Other evaluation findings indicated that parents were often enthusiastic participants, that clear progress was made by most children (especially those whose parents were heavily involved), and that parental attitudes improved. Five case studies illustrate program effects. Briefly considered is the program's relationship with specialized facilities and the cost of the project ($45 per child per year). Key features of a successful CBR project are identified, including establishing a good foundation before beginning a project, the rehabilitation therapist as a promoter of community development, utilizing a new model of supervision, developing a flexible curriculum, encouraging parent associations, and seeing the role of the coordinator as primarily that of a facilitator of human relations. Includes 9 references. (DB)

The importance of integrating written with oral language in second-language instruction for children is emphasized, and ways to do so naturally in the first two years of French language teaching are outlined. Specific exercises are described, particularly for the second year. (MSE)

Begun in 1978 by a small group of Colombians who were affiliated with a private organization and who were interested in children's upbringing, education, and development, the Promesa Project began by organizing discussion groups among about 20 mothers and their children between 3 and 7 years of age in four remote villages on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Presently, the project includes vocational courses for youth and adults, malaria awareness and prevention efforts, a nutrition and stimulation program for children under 6 years, a system of small-scale revolving loans to production groups, an emergency health program, program expansion to nine additional villages, and local, legally constituted Promesa associations. The project and related issues are discussed in sections focusing on the culture of poverty, rationale for intervention programs for children, an alternative view of national development that does not depend on professional control, and aspects of an innovative intervention program for children, including cost, managerial skills, nonformal education, community integration, parent participation, and early childhood care and education. (RH)

This special issue of the "Courrier," a journal for professionals concerned with issues related to the physical and psychological development of children, provides (1) an overview of 25 years of internationally coordinated research, (2) a selection of papers published by the research teams, and (3) a description of the teams and their present status. The origin and international expansion of the program for longitudinal studies is described in the first article. The subsequent 15 articles cover a wide range of topics. Studies concerned with physical development focus on the skeletal maturation of the hand and wrist; growth in the density of normal infants' subcutaneous cellular tissue; age of onset of menarche and associated factors among Parisian girls; clinical transformations of puberty in young girls; international comparisons of infants' physical growth; development and maturation of young children in Dakar; Gessell tests on African children; parent-child correlations for body measurements of children between the ages of 1 month and 7 years; the somatic development of urban, Swedish children; and analysis of the adolescent growth spurt using smoothing spline functions. The one study focused solely on psychological development discusses intellectual development from birth to 18 years of age. Studies covering both psychological and physiological development examine bowel and bladder control during the day and at night in the first 6 years of life; trends in the development of abilities related to somatic growth; individual differences as seen in developmental and intelligence quotient curves from 6 months to 17 years; and a comparison of infant development in five western countries. (Author/RH)

Results of a pilot study on the role of the family in the development of locus of control convictions and causal attribution tendencies are presented. Six mother-child dyads were observed in their natural surroundings. Mothers' verbal responses to their daughters' behavior were recorded and analyzed for content. Results showed (1) that causal interpretations of behavior were relatively widespread, and (2) that there were large interindividual differences in the number and quality of expressed causal attributions. Hypotheses concerning the effects on children are discussed. (PCB)