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How do children learn language?

Have you ever wondered how babies learn to talk, or how people learn language? Every healthy child learns the language(s) people speak around them; they learn this without instruction, without “perfect” input, and in some cases without even having speech directed at them. As far as we can tell, human beings are the only animals that have this remarkable ability. In this course, we will explore some of the theories of why this is so. This course will be guided by the following questions:
  • How do typically developing children acquire language: when, and in what order do children develop syntax, phonology, morphology, and the lexicon?
  • What factors contribute to language development and what theories do we have that can explain why some factors are necessary while others are not?
We will consider other topics in less detail: the relationship between language development and literacy, similarities and differences across languages and cultures, multilingual language development, life-long language development, and

Welcome to Language Development (SPV 221) at Lehman College Winter 2015.

The textbook for the course (Language Development from Theory to Practice (2nd Edition) by Khara L. Pence Turnbull and Laura M. Justice) is available for rent from Amazon. If you can manage with a digital copy, please do since falling behind in the reading will put you at a significant disadvantage for the course.

The extended Table of Contents is available on Pearson’s website though the formatting is terrible.

The most thorough resource for doing language assessments is: Assessment in Speech-Language Pathology (4th Edition) by Kenneth G. Shipley and Julie G. McAfee