There are between 4,000 and 6,000 languages remaining in the world and the characteristics of these languages vary widely. How could an infant born today master any language in the world, regardless of the language’s characteristics? Shelia M. Kennison answers this question through a comprehensive introduction to language development, taking a unique perspective that spans the period before birth through old age. Introduction to Language Development offers in-depth discussions on key topics, including: the biological basis of language, perceptual development, grammatical development, development of lexical knowledge, social aspects of language, bilingualism, the effect of language on thought, cognitive processing in language production and comprehension, language-related delays and disorders, and language late in life.
This best-selling and comprehensive text on language development is rich in information, research, examples and activities. A thorough and readable introductory text on language development, this book covers all aspects of the complex subject - including syntax, morphology, semantics, phonology, and pragmatics - while explaining each idea and concept in a way that is easily understandable by even beginning students of the field. Rich in pedagogical aids like discussion questions, chapter objectives, reflections, and main point boxed features, the eighth edition of Language Development also emphasizes culturally and linguistically diverse children and bilingual and dialectical developmental information - a discussion that accurately reflects the diversity of life and language in the United States.
This volume introduces the field of child language development studies, and presents hypotheses in an accessible, largely non-technical language, aiming to demonstrate the relationship between these hypotheses and interpretations of data. It makes the assumption that having a theory of language development is as important as having reliable data about what children say and understand, and it advocates a combination of both `rationalist' and more 'empiricist' traditions. In fact, the author overtly argues that different traditions provide different pieces of the picture, and that taking any single approach is unlikely to lead to productive understanding. Susan Foster-Cohen explores a range of issues, including the nature of prelinguistic communication and its possible relationship to linguistic development; early stages of language development and how they can be viewed in the light of later developments; the nature and role of children's experience with the language(s) around them; variations in language development due to both pathological and non-pathological differences between children, and (in the latter case) between the languages they learn; later oral language development; and literacy. The approach is distinctly psycholinguistic and linguistic rather than sociolinguistic, although there is significant treatment of issues which intersect with more sociolinguistic concerns (e.g. literacy, language play, and bilingualism). There are exercises and discussion questions throughout, designed to reinforce the ideas being presented, as well as to offer the student the opportunity to think beyond the text to ideas at the cutting edge of research. The accessible presentation of key issues will appeal to the intended undergraduate readership, and will be of interest to those taking courses in language development, linguistics, developmental psychology, educational linguistics, and speech pathology. The book will also serve as a useful introduction to students wishing to pursue post-graduate courses which deal with child language development.
Introduction to Language Development represents an excellent introductory level textbook that presents the basic concepts & terminology associated with each of the behavioral, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic aspects of developing language. The author describes each stage of language development clearly and succinctly, and presents the basic principles and data from an integrated perspective.Extremely insightful, this textbook enhances students' understanding of language development through integration of the subtle biological, cognitive, social, and behavioral dynamics that explain the development of language.TEXTBOOK
An introduction to language acquisition / Sandra Levey -- An introduction to the theories of language development / Sandra Levey -- The brain and cognitive, speech, and language development / Denise Cruz and Sandra Levey -- Infant and toddler language development / Sandra Levey -- Preschool language development / Diana Almodovar and Sandra Levey -- Language development in middle and late childhood and adolescence / Maria R. Brea-Spahn and Sandra Levey -- The development of literacy skills / Sylvia F. Diehl -- Bilingual children's language development : assessment and intervention / Brian A. Goldstein -- Language development and hearing / Brian J. Fligor and Sandra Levey
An introduction to the study of children's language development that provides a uniquely accessible perspective on generative/universal grammar–based approaches. How children acquire language so quickly, easily, and uniformly is one of the great mysteries of the human experience. The theory of Universal Grammar suggests that one reason for the relative ease of early language acquisition is that children are born with a predisposition to create a grammar. This textbook offers an introduction to the study of children's acquisition and development of language from a generative/universal grammar–based theoretical perspective, providing comprehensive coverage of children's acquisition while presenting core concepts crucial to understanding generative linguistics more broadly. After laying the theoretical groundwork, including consideration of alternative frameworks, the book explores the development of the sound system of language—children's perception and production of speech sound; examines how words are learned (lexical semantics) and how words are formed (morphology); investigates sentence structure (syntax), including argument structure, functional structure, and tense; considers such “nontypical” circumstances as acquiring a first language past infancy and early childhood, without the abilities to hear or see, and with certain cognitive disorders; and studies bilingual language acquisition, both simultaneously and in sequence. Each chapter offers a summary section, suggestions for further reading, and exercises designed to test students' understanding of the material and provide opportunities to practice analyzing children's language. Appendixes provide charts of the International Phonetic Alphabet (with links to websites that allow students to listen to the sounds associated with these symbols) and a summary of selected experimental methodologies.
This book presents a range of ongoing studies on atypical language development in Romance languages. Despite the steady increase in the number of studies on typical language development, there is still little research about atypical language development, especially in Romance languages. This book covers four main conditions causing atypical language development. Part I explores the linguistic and communicative characteristics of preterm children learning Romance languages. The focus of Part II centers on children with Specific Language Impairment. Hearing Loss in Part III is another relevant factor leading to atypical language development. The final part IV zeroes in on genetic syndromes coupled to cognitive impairment with special attention to language development. This book presents a much needed overview of the most recent findings in all relevant fields dealing with atypical language development in children speaking Romance languages.
This authoritative introduction to language development offers a stage-by-stage description of how human speech and language are acquired over the course of the early childhood years, and how they are changed and diversified by the influences of gender, geography, and culture. Rather than discuss speech and language components as separate, individual elements, these authors strive to give readers a real-time sense of speech acquisition and language growth as it happens, at every stage of development. They organize information on morphology, syntax, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics around general stages of language development as described by Roger Brown...thus emphasizing the integration and interaction of components, rather than their individual characteristics. The book explores similarities and differences between human speech and the communication systems of other species, discusses the anatomy and physiology of the physical speech mechanism, and addresses the nature of communication disorders. Conversational and friendly, the book's writing style and generous use of examples make it exceptional, reader-friendly, and accessible to readers who have no previous background in either linguistics or speech-language pathology.
This book provides a snapshot of the field of language acquisition at the beginning of the 21st Century. It represents the multiplicity of approaches that characterize the field and provides a review of current topics and debates, as well as addressing some of the connections between sub-fields and possible future directions for research.
This book presents a general overview of our current knowledge of language development in children. All the principal strands of language development are covered, including phonological, lexical, syntactic and pragmatic development; bilingualism; precursors to language development in infancy; and the language development of children with developmental disabilities, including children with specific language impairment. Written by leading international authorities, each chapter summarises clearly and lucidly our current state of knowledge, and carefully explains and evaluates the theories which have been proposed to account for children's development in that area.
