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.
"There is no single way in which children learn to communicate. Each child follows an individual developmental pattern just as you did. Still, it is possible to describe a pattern of general communication development and of English specifically. This text attempts such descriptions and generalizations but emphasizes individual patterns, too"--
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.
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 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.
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
With its primary focus on language development, Born to Talk, 6/e provides a comprehensive, contemporary, reader-friendly look at the many new and exciting contributions to the information about human language acquisition. In it, readers keep informed of the complex array of topics that provide the foundation for human communication and its development from birth through young adulthood. It is the ideal resource for students and practitioners in speech-language pathology, early childhood education, general education, special education, and related disciplines. Enhanced Pearson eText. Included in this package is access to the new Enhanced eText exclusively from Pearson. The Enhanced Pearson eText is: Engaging. Full-color online chapters include dynamic videos that show what course concepts look like in real classrooms, model good teaching practice, and expand upon chapter concepts. Video links, chosen by our authors and other subject-matter experts, are embedded right in context of the content you are reading. Convenient. Enjoy instant online access from your computer or download the Pearson eText App to read on or offline on your iPad and Android tablets.* Interactive. Features include embedded video, embedded assessment, note taking and sharing, highlighting and search. Affordable. Experience all these advantages of the Enhanced eText along with all the benefits of print for 40% to 50% less than a print bound book. *The Pearson eText App is available for free on Google Play and in the App Store.* Requires Android OS 3.1 - 4, a 7" or 10" tablet or iPad iOS 5.0 or newer
Assuming no prior knowledge, this book offers an accessible overview of English dialects, with activities, study questions, sample analyses, commentaries & key readings. It is structured around four sections: introduction, development, exploration & extension.
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.
The History of English: An Introduction provides a chronological analysis of the linguistic, social, and cultural development of the English language from before its establishment in Britain around the year 450 to the present. Each chapter represents a new stage in the development of the language from Old English through Middle English to Modern Global English, all illustrated with a rich and diverse selection of primary texts showing changes in language resulting from contact, conquest and domination, and the expansion of English around the world. The History of English goes beyond the usual focus on English in the UK and the USA to include the wider global course of the language during and following the Early Modern English period. This perspective therefore also includes a historical review of English in its pidgin and creole varieties and as a native and/or second language in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. Designed to be user-friendly, The History of English contains: chapter introductions and conclusions to assist study over 80 textual examples demonstrating linguistic change, accompanied by translations and/or glosses where appropriate study questions on the social, cultural and linguistic background of the chapter topics further reading from key texts to extend or deepen the focus nearly 100 supporting figures, tables, and maps to illuminate the text 16-pages of colour plates depicting exemplary texts, relevant artefacts, and examples of language usage, including Germanic runes, the opening page of Beowulf, the New England Primer, and the Treaty of Waitangi. The companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/gramley supports the textbook and features: an extended view of major aspects of language development as well as synopses of material dealt with in a range of chapters in the book further sample texts, including examples from Chaucer, numerous Early Modern English texts from a wide variety of fields, and twenty-first-century novels additional exercises to help users expand their insights and apply background knowledge an interactive timeline of important historical events and developments with linked encyclopaedic entries audio clips providing examples of a wide range of accents The History of English is essential reading for any student of the English language.
