Description Erika Hoff's LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT, 5th Edition communicates both the content and the excitement of this quickly evolving field. By presenting a balanced treatment that examines all sides of the issues, Hoff helps readers understand different theoretical points of view--and the research processes that have lead theorists to their findings. After an overview and history of the field, Hoff thoroughly covers the biological bases of language development and the core topics of phonological, lexical, and syntactic development. She also provides in-depth discussions of the communicative foundations of language, the development of communicative competence, language development in special populations, childhood bilingualism, and language development in the school years.
Features
This market leading text has set the standard. Known for her superior accuracy, scholarship, and readability, Hoff introduces readers to the study of language development in a conversational way, making the material accessible to students with a variety of backgrounds.
The text revisits the major theoretical perspectives at the end of each chapter to bring readers back to the important questions that pervade all aspects of language development, to remind students of the theoretical underpinnings of the field, and to encourage them to go beyond the data to issues of interpretation.
Hoff summarizes and discusses findings with illustrative studies so students do not lose sight of the big picture, and so they have a realistic context within which to consider and apply the concepts presented.
The author provides substantive treatment of literacy in the chapters on childhood bilingualism and the chapter on school-aged language, as well as discussion of cross-linguistic work throughout the text.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to the Study of Language Development.
2. Biological Bases of Language Development.
3. Foundation of Language Development in Domain-General Skills and Communicative Experience.
4. Phonological Development: Learning the Sounds of Language.
5. Lexical Development: Learning Words.
6. The Development of Syntax and Morphology: Learning the Structure of Language.
7. Communicative Development: Learning to Use Language.
8. Language, Culture, and Cognition in Development
9. Childhood Bilingualism.
9. Language in the School Years.
10. Language Development in Special Populations.
Erika Hoff is professor of psychology at Florida Atlantic University. She has taught language development to undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and, since 1996, at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Hoff holds an M.S. in psychology from Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey (1976) and a Ph.D. in psychology from University of Michigan (1981). She conducts research on the process of language development in both typically developing children and children with language impairment, and has received funding for this research from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Spencer Foundation. She has published her research in Child Development, Developmental Psychology, First Language, The Journal of Applied Psycholinguistics, The Journal of Child Language, and the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. Dr. Hoff has contributed chapters to LINGUISTIC DISORDERS AND PATHOLOGIES: AN INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK (1993), THE HANDBOOK OF PARENTING, (2002), THE HANDBOOK OF PSYCHOLOGY, and the MIT ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS.