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9th Edition

Language Development : An Introduction, Global Edition

$105.41  Softcover
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Robert Owens

  • Language Development
  • Language Development
    A cohesive, easy-to-understand overview, from syntax, morphology, & semantics, to phonology & pragmatics.

464 pages
2015
ISBN: 9781292104423

This best-selling introduction to language development text offers a cohesive, easy-to-understand overview of all aspects of the subject, from syntax, morphology, and semantics, to phonology and pragmatics. Each idea and concept is explained in a way that is clear to even beginning students and then reinforced with outstanding pedagogical aids such as discussion questions, chapter objectives, reflections, and main point boxed features. The book looks at how children learn to communicate in general and in English specifically, while emphasising individual patterns of communication development. The 9th Edition continues the distribution of bilingual and dialectal development throughout the text; expands the discussion of children from lower-SES families, including those living in homeless shelters; makes substantial improvements in the organisation and clarity of Chapter 4 on cognition and its relationship to speech and language; consolidates information on Theory of Mind in one chapter; improves readability throughout with more thorough explanations, simplification of terms, and increased use of headings and bullets; weeds out redundancies and asides to help streamline the reading; provides more child language examples throughout; and thoroughly updates the research, including the addition of several hundred new references.

For college students in courses with the same topic in communication disorders, psychology, and education.

Features:

  • Ensure up-to-date understanding of even the most challenging topics with the text’s practical, chronological framework; highly readable style; and numerous illustrative examples.
  • The most widely used text in the field, this bestseller is appreciated for its cohesive, easy-to-understand presentation of all aspects of the subject.
  • NEW! Improved readability is accomplished with more thorough explanations and clarification and/or simplification of terms, and increased use of headings and bulleted points. Redundancies and asides from previous editions have been weeded out to make the text less dense.
  • NEW! Substantial improvements in the organisation and clarity of Chapter 4 on cognition and its relationship to speech and language help readers with this difficult subject.
  • NEW! Consolidated information on Theory of Mind into one chapter makes the discussion more coherent.
  • NEW! Additional child language examples integrated throughout better illustrate language structures.
  • NEW! Updated research includes the addition of several hundred new references.
  • Cover the issues teachers face in today’s diverse classrooms.
  • NEW! Continued distribution of bilingual and dialectal development throughout the text rather than in a separate stand-alone chapter recognises the importance of these speakers and the increase in bilingualism in the United States.
  • NEW! Expanded discussion of children from lower-SES families includes those living in homeless shelters.
  • Bolster and reinforce learning with outstanding pedagogical aids. Chapter objectives, conclusions, discussion questions, and main point features help students learn concepts, retain information, and think critically about the chapter content.

Table of Contents

  • The Territory
  • Describing Language
  • Neurological Bases of Speech and Language
  • Cognitive, Perceptual and Motor Bases of Early Language and Speech
  • The Social and Communicative Bases of Early Language and Speech
  • Language-Learning and Teaching Processes and Young Children
  • First Words and Word Combinations in Toddler Talk
  • Preschool Pragmatic and Semantic Development
  • Preschool Development of Language Form
  • Early School-Age Language Development
  • School-Age Literacy Development
  • Adolescent and Adult Language

Appendix A: American English Speech Sounds

Appendix B: Major Racial and Ethnic Dialects of American English

Appendix C: Development Summary

Appendix D: Computing MLU

Appendix E: Background Grammar

Glossary

References

Author Index

Subject Index