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An argument that children are born to assign structures to their ambient language, which feeds a view of language variation not based on parameters defined at UG.In this book, David Lightfoot argues that just as some birds are born to chirp, humans are born to parse--predisposed to assign linguistic structures to their ambient external language. This approach to language acquisition makes two contributions to the development of Minimalist thinking.

This book correlates English-speaking children's brain development and acquisition of language with the linguistic input that comes from children's books. Drawing from the most current research on the developing brain, the author demonstrates how language acquisition is exclusively interactive, and highlights the benefit that accrues when that interaction includes the exploratory language play found in early childhood literature. Through discussions of specific domains of grammar, the relation of these domains to children's literature through scaffolding, and the resultant linguistic and cognitive advantages for the child, this volume offers an innovative approach to early brain maturation.

Language in Children provides a concise and basic introduction for students studying child language acquisition for the first time. Starting from the first sounds a child produces, this book covers all the stages a child goes through in acquiring a language. This title: Illustrates developmental stages from the recognition of sounds and words to the ability to hold a conversation, also covering bilingual upbringing and language disorders; Features real-life examples of all the phenomena discussed, from languages such as French, Spanish and Portuguese as well as English; Incorporates guidance on sources for further reading and exploration by chapter; Is supported by a companion website that includes exercises with links to real-world data in the CHILDES archive. Written by an experienced author and teacher, Language in Children is essential reading for students studying this topic.

Grammaticalization and lexicalization are at the heart of first language acquisition. Understanding how these processes begin and evolve is a major challenge for current theories and has implications for applications in teaching or clinical contexts. This volume examines the relative weight of cognitive and linguistic determinants of acquisition with particular attention to two questions. The first one concerns the origins of grammar and the processes underlying its development. Is grammatical knowledge innate or constructed by the child? Is it modular or does it interact with other capacities? How can we account for continuity and discontinuity in development? What is the role of input? Second, considerable variation is observed in lexical and grammatical development across child languages. Is the process of acquisition similar in all children or do language-specific factors impact its rhythm and course? Do typological factors determine children's reliance on lexical or grammatical means of expression in some domains? Originally published in Language, Interaction and Acquisition - Langage, Interaction et Acquisition 2:1 (2011).

Explaining the acquisition and processing of relative clauses has long challenged psycholinguistics researchers. The current volume presents a collection of chapters that consider the acquisition of relative clauses with a particular focus on function, typology, and language processing. A diverse range of theoretical approaches and languages are bought to bear on the acquisition of this construction type, making the volume unique in its coverage. The volume will appeal to students and scholars whose interest lies in the acquisition and processing of syntax with a particular focus on complex sentences in crosslinguistic and functionalist perspective.

The theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to perceive, interpret and predict behaviors or actions of others based on their underlying mental states. The linguistic influence on the developmental neural basis of ToM is described in this book. Furthermore, the deferential effects of context and isolated word training on reading fluency is explained. Using children's literature to assist in science inquiry and in building knowledge in other subject areas has been on the rise, due to the benefits of supporting children's language and literacy learning. Such developments are explored. In addition, the authors give an overview of the electrophysiological correlates of developmental dyslexia, a reading impairment in childhood. This book describes the impact of various cognitive functions on language acquisition and language processing in different groups of children. In addition, the effects of bilingual teaching on the development of children's literacy skills during the first six years of school are explored. Furthermore, selective mutism, a disorder characterized by a lack of speech in specific unfamiliar situations or around unfamiliar people, is described. Crying represents the very first communicative channel infants can use to communicate with their environment and thus, it plays an important role in child development. Studies that have investigated expressions of distress, specifically crying, during early stages of infancy development are reviewed. In addition, studies done to test whether language input strongly influences the development of vocabulary and syntax in children are described. Children with developmental dysphasia were also studied and the outcomes of this study are reviewed. This book looks at the connection between middle ear effusion (MEE) in the first years of life compared to central auditory processing at age seven. Furthermore, problems and questions with regard to diagnosis and intervention of multilingual specific language impairment (SLI) is examined. Future areas of research in this field are also addressed. Finally, the results from a longitudinal study between apparent pain insensibility and non-verbal communication and symbolisation disorders in autism is explored.

Volume 1 of Approaches to Bootstrapping focuses on early word learning and syntactic development with special emphasis on the bootstrapping mechanisms by which the child using properties of the speech input enters the native linguistic system. Topics dis.

Bilingualism in Development is an examination of the language and cognitive development of bilingual children focusing primarily on the preschool years. It begins by defining the territory for what is included in bilingualism and how language proficiency can be conceptualized. Using these constraints, the discussion proceeds to review the research relevant to various aspects of children's development and assesses the role that bilingualism has in each. The areas covered include language acquisition, metalinguistic ability, literacy skill, and problem-solving ability. In each case, the performance of bilingual children is compared to that of similar monolinguals, and differences are interpreted in terms of a theoretical framework for cognitive development and processing. The studies show that bilingualism significantly accelerates children's ability to selectively attend to relevant information and inhibit attention to misleading information or competing responses. This conclusion is used as the basis for examining a set of related issues regarding the education and social circumstances of bilingual children.