Language Acquisition: The Basics

Language Acquisition: The Basics is an accessible introduction to the must-know issues in child language development. Covering key topics drawn from contemporary psychology, linguistics and neuroscience, readers are introduced to fundamental concepts, methods, controversies, and discoveries.

It follows the remarkable journey children take; from becoming sensitive to language before birth, to the time they string their first words together; from when they use language playfully, to when they tell stories, hold conversations, and share complex ideas. Using examples from 73 different languages, Ibbotson sets this development in a diverse cross-cultural context, as well as describing the universal psychological foundations that allow language to happen.

This book, which includes further reading suggestions in each chapter and a glossary of key terms, is the perfect easy-to-understand introductory text for students, teachers, clinicians or anyone with an interest in language development. Drawing together the latest research on typical, atypical and multilingual development, it is the concise beginner’s guide to the field.

Dr. Paul Ibbotson is senior lecturer of developmental psychology at The Open University, England. He is interested in the relationship between language, cognition and cooperation; how these develop over the course of an individual’s lifetime and how they have evolved in our species. Author of numerous scientific publications, popular articles in The Conversation, The Guardian and Scientific American, his previous book What It Takes To Talk: Exploring Developmental Cognitive Linguistics explores the relation between language and cognitive development.