ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author aims to studies of children’s first sounds in perception and production. She describes the kinds of meanings they first attach to words, and how they build up a vocabulary and attempts to write grammars for children at different stages as they combine single words into two-, three-, and four-word utterances. The author discusses two major approaches to the process of acquisition: nativist approaches and interactive approaches, before considering some of the learning mechanisms that have been proposed. She explores the need for cross-linguistic data on acquisition and the paths children follow in acquiring different languages before researchers can draw a full picture of what is involved in acquiring a first language. In the mid-1960s, research in psycholinguistics, including research on first language acquisition, became strongly influenced by the revolution in linguistics introduced by transformational grammar.
