How children learn language / William O'Grady.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Grady, William.

Series:

Cambridge approaches to linguistics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language acquisition.

Physical Description:

viii, 240 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Summary:

Within three years of birth, children acquire several thousand words, they figure out how to build and understand complex sentences, and they master the sound system of their language - all before they can tie their shoes. How do children learn language? How can they be so good and so fast - better even than the most gifted adult?

In this engaging and accessible book, William O'Grady provides a highly readable overview not only of the language acquisition process itself, but also of the ingenious experiments and techniques that researchers use to investigate this mysterious phenomenon. It will be ideal for anyone - parent or student - who is curious about how language works and how it is learned.

Contents:

1 Small talk 1

2 The great word hunt 7

3 What's the meaning of this? 40

4 Words all in a row 80

5 What sentences mean 114

6 Talking the talk 143

7 How do they do it? 164

Appendix 1 Keeping a diary and making tape recordings 198

Appendix 2 The sounds of English 204.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 218-237) and index.

ISBN:

052182494X

0521531926

OCLC:

55036780

Online:

Publisher description