Development of Language

Jean Berko Gleason, PhD is one of the world's leading experts on children's language. She is professor emerita in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University and former director of BU's Graduate Program in Applied Linguistics. Dr. Gleason has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University, Harvard, and the Linguistics Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard/Radcliffe. She has been president of the International Association for the Study of Child Language, and is the author and editor of leading textbooks on language development and psycholinguistics. She created the Wug Test, the best known experimental study of children's language acquisition. Since writing her doctoral dissertation on how children learn to make plurals and past tenses in English she has published more than 125 articles on aphasia, language attrition, language development in children, gender differences in parents' speech, and cross-cultural differences. Her work is frequently cited in the professional literature, and has been featured in the popular press and on television, where she is featured in the PBS award-winning online Nova Science Now series "The Secret Life of Scientists." Her honors include an honorary degree from Washington and Jefferson College as well as the Roger Brown Award from the International Association for the Study of Child Language. ***** Nan Bernstein Ratner, EdD, CCC-SLP is a Professor of Hearing and Speech Sciences and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Maryland at College Park. She conducts research that has been funded by both the US NIDCD and NSF, and publishes frequently in the areas of language acquisition and speech/language disorders. Dr. Bernstein Ratner is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is an ASHA Honors recipient.

• PrefaceAcknoledgmentsContributorsChapter 1. The Development of Language: An Overview and a PreviewJean Berko Gleason and Brenda Caldwell PhillipsLearning Objectives and OutcomesAn Overview of the Course of Language DevelopmentAtypical Language DevelopmentThe Structure of Language: Learning the SystemThe Biological Bases of LanguageThe Study of Language DevelopmentSummaryReferencesSuggested projectsChapter 2. Communication Development in InfancyRochelle Newman and Katie Von HolzenLearning Objectives and OutcomesThe Social Context of the Preverbal InfantPerceptual “Tuning” to SpeechThe Expression of Communicative Intent Before SpeechVariation in Learning to CommunicateSummarySuggested projectsReferencesChapter 3. Phonological Development: Learning Sounds and Sound PatternsCarol Stoel-Gammon, Shelley Velleman and Lise MennLearning Objectives and OutcomesEnglish Speech Sounds and Sound PatternsProduction: The Prelinguistic PeriodLearning to Make WordsLearning to PronouncePhonological Development: Norms and MeasuresWhen Speech Sound Development is DifficultThe Acquisition of English MorphophonologyParents’ Role in Phonological DevelopmentPhonological Awareness and Reading ReadinessLanguage Variation in the United States: Languages, Dialects and Speech StylesChild Phonology ProblemsSummarySuggested ProjectsWeb ResourcesReferencesChapter 4. Semantic Development: Learning the Meanings of WordsPaola Uccelli and Meredith L. RoweLearning Objectives and OutcomesThe Relations Between Words and Their MeaningsTheoretical Perspectives on Semantic DevelopmentThe Study of Early Semantic DevelopmentHow Adult Speech Influences Children’s Semantic DevelopmentIndividual Differences in Vocabulary Development: Home and School FactorsVocabulary Development and Assessment in Bilingual ChildrenLater Semantic DevelopmentConnections Between Research and PracticeMetalinguistic DevelopmentSummarySuggested ProjectsReferencesChapter 5. Putting Words Together: Comprehension and Production of Morphology and Syntax in the Preschool YearsAndrea Zukowski and Nan Bernstein RatnerLearning Objectives and OutcomesMethods of Investigationg Children's Comprehension of Multiword UtterancesMethods of Investigating Children's Production of Multiword Utterances: Examining Spontaneous SpeechEntering the Complex Linguistic SystemTwo-Word UtterancesThe Nature of Syntactic RulesMeasuring Syntactic GrowthMean Length of Utterance (MLU): Advantages and ConsiderationsDeveloping Specific Grammatical MorphemesDifferent Sentence ModalitiesLater Developments in PreschoolersBeyond the Preschool YearsKnowledge Versus ProcessingSummarySuggested ProjectsReferencesChapter 6. Language in Social Contexts: Development of Communicative CompetenceJudith Becker BryantLearning Objectives and OutcomesLanguage in Social ContextsThe Challenge of Acquiring Communicative CompetenceHow Do Children Acquire Communicative Competence?When Exhibiting Communicative Competence is DifficultWhy Does Communicative Competence Matter?SummarySuggested ProjectsReferencesChapter 7. Theoretical Approaches to Language AcquisitionKarina Hamamouche and John N. Bohannon IIILearning Objectives and OutcomesDistinguishing Features of Theoretical ApproachesClassic Behavioral ApproachesLinguistic ApproachesLanguage Acquisition Device (LAD) and DevelopmentInteractionist ApproachesInformation-Processing ApproachSocial Interaction ApproachGestural and Usage-Based ApproachUsage-Based TheorySummarySuggested ProjectsReferencesChapter 8: Variation in Language Development: Implications for Research and TheoryBeverly A. Goldfield, Catherine E. Snow and Ingrid A. WillenbergLearning Objectives and OutcomesThe History of Variation in Child Language ResearchVariation in Early WordsSegmenting the Speech StreamVariation in Early SentencesStability of Style Across Words and SentencesSources of VariationContext: The Interaction of Child, Caregiver and LanguageImplications of Variation for Theories of Language AcquisitionSummarySuggested ProjectsReferencesChapter 9. Atypical Language DevelopmentNan Bernstein Ratner and Catherine Torrington EatonLearning Objectives and OutcomesWhy Should We Study Atypical Development?What Causes Atypical Language Development?Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)Special Considerations for Special PopulationsSevere Hearing ImpairmentIntellectual DisabilityAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)Atypical Speech DevelopmentEvaluation of Suspected Speech and Language Disorders in ChildrenSummarySuggested ProjectsReferencesChapter 10. Language and Literacy in the School YearsGigliana Melzi and Adina R. SchickLearning Objectives and OutcomesLearning to Share Oral StoriesGaining Awareness of LanguageLearning to ReadWhen Learning to Read Is DifficultLearning to WriteSummarySuggested ProjectsReferencesChapter 11. Bilingual Language DevelopmentJing Zhao and L. Quentin DixonLearning Objectives and OutcomesPerspectives on Bilingual Language DevelopmentKey Questions in Bilingual Language DevelopmentWhen Learning a Second Language Is DifficultSummarySuggested ProjectsReferencesGlossaryIndex