As a general index of language development, the recall of first through fourth order approximations to English was examined in four, five, six, and seven year olds and adults. Data suggested that recall improved with age, and increases in approximation to English were accompanied by increases in recall for six and seven year olds and adults. Recall improved for four and five year olds through the third order but declined at the fourth. The latter finding was attributed to deficits in semantic structures and memory processes in four and five year olds. The former finding was interpreted as an index of the development of general linguistic processes.
