"A well-written introduction to the field of language [...] a textbook, it stands out by highlighting the social and communicative aspects of language from the very beginning and touching on them throughout. Covering everything from decoding the speech signal to language use and from brain development to sign language acquisition, it will surely attract many new students to the study of language development."
-Professor Morten H. Christiansen, Cornell University, USA

"This is an excellent discussion of the most important research in language development. The authors write clearly and concisely and cover an exceptionally wide range of topics, as well as providing up-to-date coverage of the most recent research in syntax, semantics and phonology. This authoritative text will immediately be placed on our undergraduate reading list."
-Dr Julia M. Carroll, Associate Professor in Developmental Psychology, University of Warwick, UK

From the first moment of life, language development occurs in the context of social activities. This book emphasises how language development interacts with social and cognitive development, and shows how these abilities work together to turn children into sophisticated language users - a process that continues well beyond the early years. Covering the breadth of contemporary research on language development, Brooks and Kempe illustrate the methodological variety and multi-disciplinary character of the field, presenting recent findings with reference to major theoretical discussions. Through their clear and accessible style, readers are given an authentic flavour of the complexities of language development research.

With such research advancing at a rapid pace, Language Development uncovers new insights into a variety of areas such as the neurophysiological underpinnings of language, the language processing capabilities of newborns, and the role of genes in regulating this amazing human ability.

Key features include:

A state-of-the-art overview of recent advances in the field

• A wide breadth of topics, including how infants discover language through interaction with others and how children learn to read and write
• Detailed coverage of how language development unfolds in special populations such as bilinguals, deaf children, and children with language impairments.
• A comprehensive summary of each chapter with a carefully constructed list of further readings that encompass key studies
• Methodology boxes describing crucial research methods for a given topic

Additional resource materials to accompany this text are available at

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