Author Description

"This accessible textbook introduces the field of child language acquisition, exploring language development from birth into the early childhood years. Setting out the key theoretical debates, it considers questions such as what characteristics of the human mind make it possible to acquire language; how far acquisition is biologically programmed and how far it is influenced by our environment; what makes second language learning (in adulthood) different from first language acquisition; and whether the specific stages in language development are universal across languages."--Jacket.