SPEECH & LANGUAGE -any professionals/buffs out there, quick query!

[LittlePushka]

I am really very interested in speech and language development in young children and hearing it all unfold in my little boy has been truly fascinating.

I would really like to know more about the theory and would be very grateful if any of you could recommend a textbook for me to get into.

(PS He has no problems and I am not pushy,...just fired up by how and why it happens!)

[GivePeasAChance]

Stephen Pinker 'The Language Instinct' is very readable and comes from the view that humans' brains are programmed to learn language before they are born.

[jimjamshaslefttheyurt]

How Babies Talk - not a text book but very readable by Golinkoff and Hiresh-Pasek

[jimjamshaslefttheyurt]

Language aquisition does have its controversies though....

[GivePeasAChance]

Quite - which is why I stated what the Stephen Pinker view is !! It's not everyone's cup of tea. No-one really knows how it happens - there are just theories.

[gigglewitch]

from mum and teacher perspective, take a look here? (including the "also" line at the bottom of the page )

[jimjamshaslefttheyurt]

The How Babies Talk book is recommended by Pinker on the back, so will present the same view.

[asicsgirl]

ooh i like this question!

pinker 'language instinct' is a great read but not sure i would recommend it to someone who is interested in finding out the nuts and bolts. as others have suggested, it's a very partial view, although he has a great writing style and makes his points very persuasively! not sure golinkoff and hirsh-pasek have exactly the same views as pinker, but they are very focused on brains as opposed to minds...

a very simple read is david crystal 'listen to your child'. some nice ideas for little experiments/ observations you can make at home (!) to give you an insight into what is happening in your own child's development too.

o'grady's book is a bit more technical but still readable, and gives you a bit more detail about how researchers have found out what we know so far!

berko gleason is good too tho' you may need to get it second hand or from a library.

finally if you get really into it, eve clark is the one i get my second year students to buy. very comprehensive and detailed but still readable (just)!

hth! happy reading

[LittlePushka]

Thank you so much asics girl,..I am checking out all your very kind suggestions and I cannot wait to get my teeth into them!

Only need another 6 hrs a day to read them...

Thanks again!

[LittlePushka]

PS Asics girl, do you know if any of the suggestions you kindly made have commentary on dialects/accents?

[asicsgirl]

hi littlepushka! good question... couldn't tell you off the top of my head but i would imagine they will all mention it somewhere. are you looking for particular info?

[LittlePushka]

not especially asics girl,...just want to know everything! and also dh and i are very different so interesting to see who the boys copy for what before they become homogenised by primary school!

[LittlePushka]

How Babies Talk - by Golinkoff and Hiresh-Pasek ....just aboutto finish this. What a great read to have whilst having a toddler to oblige with testing the theories. Great!

Waiting for the rest to arrive..! Thanks again