The seventh edition of The Development of Language, written and contributed by leading researchers, covers language acquisition and development from infancy through adulthood.   This authoritative text is ideal for courses that take a developmental approach to language acquisition across the full life span, from infancy through the aging process. The text thoroughly explores syntax, morphology, semantics, phonology, and pragmatics. It examines atypical development with attention to the most common disorders affecting language acquisition, presents strong coverage of individual differences in language acquisition and learning, describes how and why they occur, and provides contemporary references and the most recent research findings. The panel of expert authors provides students with cutting-edge research knowledge in an interesting and highly readable format. The goal is the best and most up-to-date information for the student, with guides for further exploration of topics of interest. The emphasis on change over the life span is even more important to students from all fields, since it reinforces current developments in cognitive neuroscience that indicate language, once acquired, is not static, but rather, undergoes constant neural reorganization.   HIGHLIGHTS OF WHAT'S NEW IN THE SEVENTH EDITION: Updated chapter on atypical language development (Chapter 9) contains new information about cochlear implants, current research on the autism spectrum disorders, new therapeutic approaches to atypical language, with an emphasis on Specific Language Impairment, and evaluation of recent claims regarding the etiology of atypicality. Therapeutic recommendations are presented within the context of Evidence-based Practice (EBP). Includes contemporary topics, such as the neurological bases of animal and human communication, the value of programs to accelerate language in infants, such as “baby signs”, language acquisition in languages other than English, adopted foreign children's language acquisition, and genetic basis for language, that encourage topical discussions. Updated with new material on the hypothesized brain mechanisms that underlie language acquisition, the aging brain’s language processing abilities, and language disorder, as well as advances in the treatment of language disorders ensuring student awareness of current discoveries. New information on using computers and the Internet to carry out directed and student-initiated research on language development, not found in most competing texts in the subject area. Expanded information on the use of the Child Language Data Exchange System, which is now Web-based, and contains both written transcripts and auditory language samples that permit first-hand student research in the topic areas. Completely updated chapters that continue to emphasize the primary concerns of researchers and practitioners working in the areas of language acquisition and disorders.

Table of Contents:
Preface                      1 The Development of Language: An Overview and a Preview Jean Berko Gleason,   Boston University   An Overview of the Course of Language Development ;  The Biological Bases of Language  ; The Structure of Language: Learning the System  ; The Study of Language Development  ; Summary ; Suggested Projects  ; Suggested Readings  ; Key Words  ;  References   2  Communication Development in Infancy Jacqueline Sachs, University of Connecticut   The Expression of Communicative Intent Before Speech   ; The Social Context of the Preverbal Infant ; Summary ; Suggested Projects  ; Suggested Readings  ; Key Words  ;  References     3  Phonological Development: Learning Sounds and Sound Patterns Lise Menn, University of Colorado Carol StoelGammon, University of Washington   English Speech Sounds and Sound Patterns  ; Infant Speech Perception  ; Production: The Prelinguistic Period  ; The Beginning of Phonological Development: Protowords  ; Cognitive Approaches to the Acquisition of Phonology   ; Learning to Pronounce   ; Development after Three Years ; The Acquisition of English Morphophonology ; Parental Role in Phonological Development ;  Summary ; Suggested Projects  ; Suggested Readings  ; Key Words  ;  References   4  Semantic Development Barbara Alexander Pan and Paola Uccelli, Harvard Graduate School of Education   The Relations between Words and Their Referents ;  Theoretical Perspectives on Semantic Development   ;  Early Words   ;   How Adult Speech Influences Children's Semantic Development   ;  Later Semantic Development   ;  Factors influencing children’s vocabulary development; Metalinguistic Development;  Summary ; Suggested Projects  ; Suggested Readings  ; Key Words ;  References     5  Putting Words Together: Morphology and Syntax in the Preschool Years Helen Tager Flusberg,  Boston University School of Medicine Andrea Zukowski, University of Maryland   The Nature of Syntactic Rules;   Studying Syntactic Development ; Entering the Complex Linguistic System; Measuring Syntactic Growth ; Two-Word Utterances;  Developing Grammatical Morphemes ;    Different Sentence Modalities ; Later Developments in Preschoolers; Beyond the Preschool Years ;   Knowledge vs. Processing; Summary; Suggested Projects ; Suggested Readings ; Key Words;  References   6   Language in Social Contexts: Communicative Competence in the Preschool Years Judith Becker Bryant, University of South Florida   Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Communicative Competence   ; Language in Social Contexts   ; The Difficulty of Acquiring Communicative Competence   ; Influences on the Acquisition of Communicative Competence   ;  The Significance of Communicative Competence   ;   Summary ; Suggested Projects  ; Suggested Readings  ; Key Words  ;  References   7   Theoretical Approaches to Language Development John N. Bohannon III, Butler University John D. Bonvillian, University of Virginia   Behavioral Approaches   ; Evaluation of the Behavioral Approaches   ;  Linguistic Approaches   ;  Evaluation of the Linguistic Approach   ;   Interactionist Approaches   ;  Summary and New Directions  ;  Suggested Projects   ;  Suggested Readings   ;  Key Words   ;  References   8  Individual Differences in Language Development Beverly A. Goldfield, Rhode Island College Catherine E. Snow,  Harvard Graduate School of Education   The History of Individual Differences in Child Language Research   ; Individual Differences in Early Words   ; Segmenting the Speech Stream   ; Individual Differences in Early Sentences   ; Stability of Individual Differences   ; Sources of Variation   ; Context: The Interaction of Child, Caregiver, and Language   ; Implications of Individual Differences for a Theory of Language Acquisition   ;  Summary ; Suggested Projects  ; Suggested Readings  ; Key Words  ;  References     9  Atypical Language Development Nan Bernstein Ratner,  University of Maryland at College Park   Communicative Development and Severe Hearing Impairment ; Intellectual Disability and Communicative Development   ; Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)/Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)   ;    Specific Language Impairment   ;  Atypical Speech Development   ; Evaluation of Suspected Speech and Language Disorders in Children  ;   Summary ; Suggested Projects  ; Suggested Readings  ; Key Words  ;  References       10    Language Development in the School Years Gigliana Melzi, New York University Richard Ely, Boston University   Interactions with Peers; Metalinguistic Development in the School Years   ; Literacy Experiences at Home   ; Reading   ;   Writing   ; Bilingualism   ;  Summary ; Suggested Projects  ; Suggested Readings  ; Key Words  ;  References       11 Language in Adulthood Loraine K. Obler,  City University of New York   Language in Adulthood; The Language of Peer and Social Groups ; Language at Work   ;   Second Language Acquisition in Adulthood   ; Acquisition of Adult Registers   ; Language Development in Advanced Age   ;   Adult Language and Brain Damage   ;  Summary ; Suggested Projects  ; Suggested Readings  ; Key Words  ;  References       Glossary   Index