All chapters begin with "Chapter Objectives" and conclude with "Conclusion," "Discussions," and "Reflections."
Preface. 1. The Territory. This Text and You.
Speech, Language, and Communication.
Properties of Language.
Components of Language.
2. Language-Development Models. Behavioral Theory.
Psycholinguistic Theory: A Syntactic Model.
Psycholinguistic Theory: A Semantic/Cognitive Model.
Sociolinguistic Theory.
3. Child Development. Developmental Patterns.
The Developing Child.
4. Neurolinguistics. Central Nervous System.
Language Processing.
5. Cognitive and Perceptual Bases of Early Language. Which Came First, Cognition or Language?
Neurological Development.
Early Cognitive Development.
Early Perceptual Development.
6. The Social and Communicative Bases of Early Language. Development of Communication: A Chronology.
Maternal Communication Behaviors.
Interactions between Infant and Caregiver.
7. Language-Learning Processes in Young Children. Comprehension, Production, and Cognitive Growth.
Child Learning Strategies.
Adult Conversational Teaching Techniques.
Importance of Play.
8. A First Language. Single-Word Utterances.
Early Multiword Combinations.
Phonological Patterns.
9. Preschool Pragmatic and Semantic Development. Pragmatic Development.
Semantic Development.
Interdependence of Form, Content, and Use: Pronouns.
10. Preschool Development of Language Form. Stages of Syntactic and Morphologic Development.
Morphologic Development.
Sentence-Form Development.
Embedding and Conjoining.
Phonological Development.
11. School-Age and Adult Pragmatic and Semantic Development. Pragmatic Development.
Semantic Development.
12. School-Age and Adult Language Form and Mode Development. Syntactic and Morphologic Development.
Phonological Development.
Metalinguistic Abilities.
Reading and Writing: A New Mode.
13. Language Differences: Bidialectism and Bilingualism. Dialects.
Bilingualism.
14. Language Research and Analysis. Issues in the Study of Child Language.
Cross-Language Studies.
Examples of Child Language Data.
15. Disorders and Development. The Developmental Approach.
Appendix: American English Speech Sounds.