'“I would like to thank the authors for writing one of the best books available for the course that I teach. I would like to encourage them to continue updating and expanding the book so that it remains the premier text for speech and language development courses, particularly at the undergraduate level.”

—Bertha Smith Clark, Middle Tennessee State University

“This is a very good introductory level book.”

—Robert Ackerman, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

“The pedagogical features are one of the many things I really like about Born to Talk. The chapter objectives are great for giving students a mental outline before they start reading the chapter. The review questions at the end of the chapters hit on the key points and are a great study tool for students. The tables and charts supplement the text very nicely and highlight key points.”

—Ellen Stubbe Kester, The University of Texas at Austin

Highlights of the New Edition

• A new chapter, “One Tongue – Two or More Languages,” thoroughly addresses the issue of bilingualism, a topic often under represented in competing language development texts.
• Chapter 10—“Speech and Language Disorders”—has been condensed to present information on phonological, voice and fluency disorders in a basic fashion.
• Four new tables have been added to visually supplement the text (Chs. 1, 6 and 8).
• References have been updated throughout the text, insuring currency and accuracy of information.
• Substantive changes have been incorporated to the contents of many chapters to keep the text up-to-date and competitive in the speech and language development discipline (Chs. 1-6 and 8).
• Chapter 8—“Language Diversity: Regional, Social/Cultural, and Gender Differences”—now contains a section on Asian English, a new “hot topic” in language texts.
• Inclusion of information on the anatomy and physiology that supports speech, language, and hearing in human beings has been moved from the body of the book to a supportive role in the Appendix.

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Written for a broad audience, this textbook walks through each stage of toddler language development, considers how each aspect of language affects all other aspects, and introduces the speech sound system studied by phonology. An appendix reviews the anatomical and physiological bases of speech, language, and hearing. The fourth edition adds a chapter on bilingualism.
Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

'All Chapters end with “Review Questions and ” “References and Suggested Readings.”

1. A Connection of Brains.

2. Language Acquisition: A Theoretical Journey.

3. Cognitive Development—Building a Foundation for Language.

4. In the Beginning—Communication Development from Birth to Two Years.

5. The Saga Continues—Language Development Through the Preschool Years.