Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

On the development of the field of language development

Part I. Basic foundations and theoretical approaches to language development

The neurodevelopmental bases of language

Formal and computational constraints on language development

Domain-general learning capacities

How inherently social is language?

Input and the acquisition of language : three questions

The emergence of language : a dynamical systems account

Part II. Language development in infancy

Experiential influences on speech perception and speech production in infancy

Acquiring linguistic structure

Cognitive processes in early word learning

Syntactic supports for word learning

Part III. Language development in early childhood

Phonological development

Mechanisms of word learning

The abstract nature of syntactic representation : consequences for a theory of learning

Conversational understanding in young children

Bilingual first language acquisition

Part IV. Language development after early childhood

Developing linguistic knowledge and language use across adolescence

Language and literacy in bilingual children in the early school years

Second language acquisition in childhood

Part V. Atypical language development

Children with specific language impairment : bridging the genetic and developmental perspectives

Atypical language development : autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders

Reading and reading disorders