Children's Language: Revised Edition

Ray Cattell is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.

"Views about the nature of language acquisition differ dramatically, and it is not easy for the uninitiated non-specialist to gain a general overview of the field and the different views and perspectives held by various researchers in the field. Cattell's Children's Language: Consensus and Controversy meets this need and provides a welcome introduction to this very important field. It is well-written, cogent and easy to follow, and does an outstanding job of introducing some very complex topics in a readily-understandable manner. Highly recommended for general readers and undergraduate students." Choice"

• 1. Getting to rub two words together; 2. Catching fire; 3. Do we teach children to speak: Skinner and behaviourism; 4. Learning through touching and feeling: Jean Piaget; 5. What goes on in the mind?: Mentalism and Chomsky; 6. A close look at Chomsky's theories; 7. Do we help children to speak; 8. Learning how to mean: Halliday; 9. The two hemispheres of the brain - A; 10. The two hemispheres of the brain - B; 11. The bounds of language acquisition; 12. Animals and language; 13. Bootstrapping - A; 14. Bootstrapping - B; 15. The best of both worlds? Annette Karmiloff-Smith; 16. Conclusion Glossary.