Child Language

"The acquisition of language is a staggering feat, yet one that all typically developing children have largely tackled by the time they reach school age. This book presents the latest thinking and research on how children acquire and develop their first language, written in a manner that will be stimulating and interesting for a range of undergraduate students." "The reader is taken from a standing start to the point where they can engage with key debates and current research in the field of child language. No background knowledge of linguistic theory is assumed and all specialist terms are introduced in clear, non-technical language. A theme running through the book is the nature-nurture debate, rekindled in the modern era by Noam Chomsky, with his belief that the form language takes in the child is largely determined by genetic factors. This book is rare in its balanced presentation of evidence from both sides of the nature-nurture divide; in effect, it uniquely presents a case for language acquisition and development."--Jacket.