Language Development from Two to Three
Language Development from Two to Three
Out of Print
The chapters in this volume were originally separate research reports from longitudinal study of a group of four children. As a collection, the reports present a developmental story of language acquisition in the third year of life – a time of great achievement as children acquire a basic knowledge of semantics, syntax, and discourse. The early chapters show the children learning to form simple sentences; later chapters show them beginning to acquire the structures of complex sentences. Several conceptual themes in current language acquisition research and theory were first articulated in the studies reproduced here: the centrality of verbs for learning syntax; the role of meaning in acquisition; the importance of context; the relationship of language learning to other aspects of cognitive development; and individual differences among children learning the same language. These themes are discussed in an introductory chapter that unifies the studies and places the reports in the context of current research and theory in child language.
Reviews & endorsements
"...provide an important first step toward the goal of finding ways to integrate children's acquisition of grammar into their more general cognitive and social-cognitive development, that is to say, toward a truly psychological theory of language acquistion." Michael Tomasello, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly
"This volume makes evident the remarkable scope of Bloom's contributions to developmental psycholinguistics. Here we see a systematic mind scanning the acquisition of linguistic knowledge from diverse perspectives. The work is impressive and cohesive." Elinor Ochs
"Together, (these studies) represent a formidable body of research that is necessary reading for any serious student in the field." David Ingram (from First Language Acquisition)
"...Offers an integrated overview of major themes of interest in current research on language acquisition. The claims are supported by rigorous research, expounded with clear language, and accompanied by several detailed figures and tables that summarize the results. These, together with the robust theoretical assumptions, make this book an excellent approach which is absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in the study of syntax acquisition." Almuena Gimenez de la Pena, First Language
"This is a welcome and useful book. Its editing and organization make it easy to find one's way around, and it will reassure practitioners that they are not disadvantaging their clients by not being as well-informed about recent developments in linguistic theory as they would like." Mick Perkins, Child Language Teaching and Therapy
"...the work of Lois Bloom and her colleagues remains the single most extensively studied database in child language studies." David Ingram, C'an Jnl of Linguistics
"...this book is likely to be seminal work in the field. It is must reading for those interested in research in this area." Choice
"...a collection of 12 papers, published between 1970 and 1989, on the language development of 2- to 3-year-old children....offers and integrated overview of major themes of interest in current research on language acquisition. The claims are supported by rigorous research, expounded with clear language, and accompanied by several detailed figures and tables that summarize the results. These, together with the robust theoretical assumptions, make this book an excellent approach which is absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in the study of syntax acquisition." Almudena Gimeénez de la Penã, First Language
"...deftly integrates the works and grounds them all in present scholarship, by presenting an informative theoretical and historical introduction and by framing each paper with a newly-written introductory summary and an epilogue identifying publications by others which have appeared since the reprinted articles...The findings of these studies have a timeless utility that transcends theoretical boundaries." Lorraine McCune, Child Development Abstracts & Bibliography
"...The funds [from this book] are earmarked for the support of graduate students' research in language development. Bloom's generous gift acknowledges her roots as a speech-language pathologist and provides an added motivation to purchase this intriguing collection of papers." Asha
Product details
May 1993Paperback
9780521435833
528 pages
230 × 152 × 35 mm
0.783kg
46 b/w illus. 75 tables
Unavailable - out of print
Table of Contents
- Part I. Acquisition of Simple Sentences:
- 1. Syntactic, lexical, and discourse covariation
- 2. Sentence negation
- 3. Verb inflections and tense
- 4. Aspect
- 5. Wh-questions
- Part II: Acquisition of Complex Sentences:
- 6. Syntactic connectives and clausal meaning relations
- 7. Structures and functions of expression of causality
- 8. Meaning of expressions of causality
- 9. Infinitive constructions
- 10. Complentation
- Part III: Studies of Process:
- 11. Imitation
- 12. Discourse.
