The Handbook of Child Language [Paperback]

This volume, in its 25 definitive chapters on normal and nonnormal language development, represents the authoritative and up-to-date complete sourcebook on child language development. All aspects of child language development are addressed, including phonetics, phonology, grammar, and lexical development. Connectionism and government-binding theory, as applied to language development, are fully represented. The relevance of input, cognition, and social factors to language development is explored. Chapters on methodology, particularly using computer databases, are provided for both normal and nonnormal acquisition.List of Contributors.

Acknowledgments.

Part I: Theory, Method, and Context.

Introduction.

Theoretical Approaches.

1. Parameters in Acquisition: Jürgen M. Meisel (University of Hamburg).

2. Connectionist Approaches to Language Acquisition: Kim Plunkett (Oxford University).

3. The Impact of Language Socialization on Grammatical Development: Elinor Ochs (University of California at Los Angeles) and Bambi Schieffelin (New York University).

Methods.

4. Individual Differences and their Implications for Theories of Language Development: Elizabeth Bates (University of California at San Diego), Philip S. Dale (University of Washington), and Donna Thal (San Diego State University).

5. Computational Analysis of Interactions: Brian MacWhinney (Carnegie Mellon University).

Social and Contextual Influences.

6. Issues in the Study of Input: Finetuning, Universality, Individual and Developmental Differences, and Necessary Causes: Catherine E. Snow (Harvard University Graduate School of Education).

7. Discourse Organization and the Development of Reference lŠ