The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition

An essential handbook for professionals and advanced students in the field. Volume 1 contains comprehensive studies on the acquisition of 15 different languages (from ASL to Samoan) -- written by top researchers on each topic. Volume 2 concentrates on theoretical issues, emphasizing current linguistic and psycholinguistic research. Unique in its approach toward individual languages and in its comparative perspective, this book is a hallmark of a rapidly growing area of interdisciplinary, international research.

Dan Isaac Slobin

Volume 1: The Data. Contents: D.I. Slobin, Introduction: Why Study Acquisition Crosslinguistically? Part I:Spoken Languages.J.G. de Villiers, P.A. de Villiers, The Acquisition of English. A.E. Mills, The Acquisition of German. E.V. Clark, The Acquisition of Romance, with Special Reference to French. E. Ochs, Variation and Error: A Sociolinguistic Approach to Language Acquisition in Samoa. A.A. Aksu-Koc, D.I. Slobin, The Acquistion of Turkish. Part II:Signed Languages.E.L. Newport, R.P. Meier, The Acquisition of American Sign Language. Volume 2: Theoretical Issues. Contents: J.R. Johnston, Cognitive Prerequisites: The Evidence from Children Learning English. T. Givon, Function, Structure, and Language Acquisition. A.M. Peters, Language Segmentation: Operating Principles for the Perception and Analysis of Language. B. MacWhinney, Hungarian Language Acquisition as an Exemplification of a General Model of Grammatical Development. D.I. Slobin, Crosslinguistic Evidence for the Language-Making Capacity. M. Bowerman, What Shapes Children's Grammars?