Synopses & Reviews
The
Blackwell Handbook of Language Development provides a comprehensive treatment of the major topics and current concerns in the field. Covering new academic terrain in areas such as brain development, computational skills, bilingualism, education, and cross-linguistic comparisons, this volume explores the progress of twenty-first century research in language development while considering its precursors and looking towards promising research topics for the future. This balanced and accessible volume collects the work of a generation of researchers who are enlarging the field to consider internal and external bases for language development and to address a wide range of language development outcomes.
Presenting recent research in the traditional topics of language development from infancy through early childhood, this book also expands upon those topics to include work on older children, exploring how linguistic knowledge develops with experiences such as learning a second language and acquiring writing skills. The expansive coverage of foundational and emerging topics makes this book an excellent resource for researchers, instructors, and graduate students in developmental psychology, linguistics, and education.
Review
"Catapulting us full-speed into the twenty-first century, the '
Blackwell Handbook of Language Development' offers a stunning vista on contemporary knowledge about language development in our species. The mystery of the child's linguistic mind is laid bare while thoroughly explaining the important social and cognitive contexts in which it grows. The edition's eminent editors, Hoff and Shatz, offer brilliant insights, theoretical notes, and historical views that give depth and urgency to the field's looming modern questions, and the text's contributors are an international tour-de-force whose ingenious research provide a new look on the magic of human language learning. Fascinating accounts of language development in infancy, early childhood, later childhood, the bilingual child, and atypical language development are included. This must-read text will interest scholars, students, and professionals, alike, and will utterly satisfy all those who have ever marveled at the beauty of language or wondered about how our magnificent human mind discovered and learned it." Laura-Ann Pettito, Dartmouth College
"Hoff and Shatz have gathered an important and lively set of new articles on child language learning with broad topical coverage, and considerable attention to foundational issues as well as recent empirical findings. Diverse points of view are well represented and explained. This collection would certainly be my choice as a text for advanced courses and seminars on language acquisition." Professor Lila Gleitman, University of Pennsylvania
“The authors … have risen to the monumental challenge of charting language development … .The book successfully captures the complexities of language development across time.” Canadian Psychology
Synopsis
The Blackwell Handbook of Language Development provides a comprehensive treatment of the major topics and current concerns in the field; exploring the progress of 21st century research, its precursors, and promising research topics for the future.
- Provides comprehensive treatments of the major topics and current concerns in the field of language development
- Explores foundational and theoretical approaches
- Focuses on the 21st century's research into the areas of brain development, computational skills, bilingualism, education, and cross-cultural comparison
- Looks at language development in infancy through early childhood, as well as atypical development
- Considers the past work, present research, and promising topics for the future.
- Broad coverage makes this an excellent resource for graduate students in a variety of disciplines
About the Author
Erika Hoff is Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University. She is author of
Language Development (2005).
Marilyn Shatz is Professor of Psychology and Linguistics at the University of Michigan. She is author of A Toddler’s Life (1994).
Table of Contents
List of Contributors.
Preface.
1. On the Development of the Field of Language Development: Marilyn Shatz (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor).
Part I: Basic Foundations and Theoretical Approaches to Language Development:.
Introduction.
2. The Neurodevelopmental Bases of