Chapter 1

Upon completion of Chapter 1, you will should be prepared to discuss the following concepts:

· The study of language development explains the “what, when, how and why” factors in children’s comprehension and use of language.

· Child language acquisition research is concerned with how children

1. Acquire understanding and use of vocabulary and sentence structure; and

2. Use language in socially appropriate ways.

· The subcomponents of child language acquisition research include the study of phonology, lexicon, morphology, syntax, pragmatics, sociolinguistics and literacy.

· Children generally achieve competency in all basic components of language by the age of four years old and then throughout the later years of their development, they refine their skills and acquire secondary skills for literacy.

· Behaviorism and cognitivism are the two psychological theories from the 1950s which1950s that were used to explain aspects of language development.

· A large amount of child language acquisition research has been applied to practices that increase children’s verbal abilities, especially for those children whose mental retardation, hearing impairment or brain injury results in delays or other difficulties.

· Child language research has been conducted from three historical perspectives:

1. Prior to World War I, when child language research was first conducted on large samples in order to establish norms, most child language acquisition research relied on individual or case study approaches.

2. Noam Chomsky laid the foundation of linguistic studies in the 1960’s with his focus on the structure of language, cognitive processing and its relationship to child development.

3. Currently, research on child language acquisition is conducted within the context of how the child’s social or cultural group influences language development.

· Two major theoretical issues have emerged in the field of language development research regarding nature vs. nurture positions, which address the following:

1. Within the nature vs. nurture debate are arguments from the nativist viewpoint and the interactionist viewpoint.

2. Universal Grammar and Connectionism are key components of the nature vs. nurture discussion.