Born to Talk: An Introduction to Speech and Language Development - Hardcover

Hulit, Lloyd M.; Howard, Merle R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0205194117 ISBN 13: 9780205194117

Publisher: Pearson, 1996

Synopsis

This authoritative introduction to language development offers a stage-by-stage description of how human speech and language are acquired over the course of the early childhood years, and how they are changed and diversified by the influences of gender, geography, and culture. Rather than discuss speech and language components as separate, individual elements, these authors strive to give readers a real-time sense of speech acquisition and language growth as it happens, at every stage of development. They organize information on morphology, syntax, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics around general stages of language development as described by Roger Brown...thus emphasizing the integration and interaction of components, rather than their individual characteristics. The book explores similarities and differences between human speech and the communication systems of other species, discusses the anatomy and physiology of the physical speech mechanism, and addresses the nature of communication disorders. Conversational and friendly, the book's writing style and generous use of examples make it exceptional, reader-friendly, and accessible to readers who have no previous background in either linguistics or speech-language pathology.

About this title

From the Back Cover

“I would like to thank the authors for writing one of the best books available for the course that I teach. I would like to encourage them to continue updating and expanding the book so that it remains the premier text for speech and language development courses, particularly at the undergraduate level.”
— Bertha Smith Clark, Middle Tennessee State University

“This is a very good introductory level book.”
—Robert Ackerman, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

“The pedagogical features are one of the many things I really like about Born to Talk. The chapter objectives are great for giving students a mental outline before they start reading the chapter. The review questions at the end of the chapters hit on the key points and are a great study tool for students. The tables and charts supplement the text very nicely and highlight key points.”
—Ellen Stubbe Kester, The University of Texas at Austin

Highlights of the New Edition

• A new chapter, “One Tongue – Two or More Languages,” thoroughly addresses the issue of bilingualism, a topic often under represented in competing language development texts.
• Chapter 10—“Speech and Language Disorders”—has been condensed to present information on phonological, voice and fluency disorders in a basic fashion.
• Four new tables have been added to visually supplement the text (Chs. 1, 6 and 8).
• References have been updated throughout the text, insuring currency and accuracy of information.
• Substantive changes have been incorporated to the contents of many chapters to keep the text up-to-date and competitive in the speech and language development discipline (Chs. 1-6 and 8).
• Chapter 8—“Language Diversity: Regional, Social/Cultural, and Gender Differences”—now contains a section on Asian English, a new “hot topic” in language texts.
• Inclusion of information on the anatomy and physiology that supports speech, language, and hearing in human beings has been moved from the body of the book to a supportive role in the Appendix.

From the Back Cover

In a new fifth edition that offers exciting expansions and updates, Born To Talk continues to provide college students of all levels with a contemporary and comprehensive view of speech and language development in a reader-friendly and interactive manner. Structured to reflect the actual development of language in a child, this engaging text introduces readers to research-based information on the nature of human communication, theories of language and cognitive development, the anatomy and physiology of speech, milestones of language and literacy, cultural and linguistic diversity in language acquisition, and speech and language disorders.

 

The new revised fifth edition of Born To Talk includes up-to-date research on the impact of parent-child interactions, language samples from one child across the first three years, and emergent literacy in preschool.  The revision also expands on the acquisition of the sound system and brings an integrated perspective of childhood language disorders through case examples.

 

New to this Edition: 

 

New research is covered throughout the book regarding the impact of parent-child interactions, language samples from one child across the first three years, and emergent literacy in preschool.

An expanded section on the acquisition of the sound system helps readers better understand a vital aspect of language development.

New case studies found throughout the text provide students with real-life examples of childhood language disorders.

  

Reviewers are saying:

"I was thrilled to find Born to Talk to use as a text for my undergraduate language acquisition course and as a supplement for my graduate early literacy course.  The book is challenging for students, but as scholarly as it is, it is also interesting and makes the study of language acquisition come alive for the students." Margaret Coxwell, Minot State University

Edition details

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0205194117
• ISBN 13: 9780205194117
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 418