An Introduction To Child Language

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An Introduction to Child Language

This accessible and inclusive new textbook introduces Child Language Acquisition (CLA), with unique coverage of bilingual and early second language development as well as first languages. The majority of children worldwide will grow up to be bi- or multilingual, and early second language acquisition is a very common experience for migrant children and those in more well-established ethnic minority communities across the world. The book explores the major stages of child language development below the age of five years, covering social context, early words, combining words, inflections and function words, complexity, and use of language, but also some of the major developments that take place post five years. Including recent developments in the area, this introduction: • Emphasises the interactive development of the component skills involved in language and the wider skills on which language depends • Incorporates bilingual language development throughout, covering both two first languages and early naturalistic second language acquisition • Takes a crosslinguistic and cross-cultural approach, considering the role of input and child directed speech in the light of recent debate about links between socio-economic status and CLA and supposed ‘deficient’ language-learning environments for some groups of children Supported with examples taken from child language data and experimental studies, as well as exercises and activities, this student-friendly text is an essential course textbook for any module on child language acquisition.
An Introduction to Child Language Development

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.
An Introduction to Child Development

This outstanding new textbook presents a comprehensive introduction to developmental psychology that is engaging, yet detailed and thorough. Covering all the major topics in child development, the book offers a grounding in the principles which govern research and theory in contemporary child development, and surveys those theories and research methods which are essential to developing a firm knowledge of the field. Some key features include: · Coverage of the child's 'theory of mind' under the rubric of social development; · an introduction to 'emotion regulation' in the chapter on emotional development; · Coverage of some key theories such as 'dynamic systems theory' and 'evolutionary psychology’