Child Language: A Reader

Processes of language acquisition and children's uses of language have long been topics of intense interest to laymen and professionals alike. In the early 1960s, developmental psycholinguistics took shape as a field of systematic inquiry with primary focus on the acquisition of language as a formal grammatical system. The field of child inquiry has broadened steadily in the past 25 years. Current investigations are concerned with relations of language to conceptual development and the functions of language as well as with the development of language as a formal system. This comprehensive anthology reflects the excitement of theoretical debate and makes clear the kinds of empirical questions that structure the field today. Students are introduced to the field of child language through primary source material drawn from the recent work of leading researchers and theoreticians. The thirty papers collected here cover a group of significant topics including precursors of language, the transition to language, first words, syntax and semantics in early language, social and private speech, child conversation, early narrative, metaphor, and metalinguistic processes. Several different kinds of methodologies for gathering and analyzing data on child language are exemplified by the studies in this collection. For each of the five sections of the book, a brief introduction highlights critical issues in the area and delineates interrelations among selections. Intended for use as a main or supplementary text in upper level courses, this comprehensive, carefully edited anthology can also serve as an introduction to the field for professionals interested in research and theory in child language.