Author Description

Language Acquisition offers, in one convenient reader, work by the most outstanding researchers in each field and is intended as a snapshot of the sort of theory and research taking place in language acquisition in the 1990s. All of the articles and chapters were chosen to reflect topics and debates of current interest, and all take an interdisciplinary approach to language development, relating the study of how a child comes to possess language to issues within linguistics, computational theory, biology, social cognition, and comparative psychology. While there are several introductory texts on language development, and countless collections of articles, this reader provides a comprehensive survey of the questions scientists are asking about language acquisition, the important experimental findings, and the key theoretical debates. It is suitable for students at advanced levels and scholars with a range of different perspectives and interests. The readings are organized into six sections: the onset of language development, word learning, syntax and semantics, morphology, acquisition in special circumstances, and alternative perspectives. Each section serves as an introduction to a specific area and provides sufficient background for further reading.