ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces important experimental methods as well as the neurocognitive foundations of language development, and explains their relevance by a number of important empirical findings. Language processing is a product of the human brain. In this respect, language acquisition and language development should also be considered in the context of brain functional and brain structural changes during child development. From the large number of available neuroscientific empirical methods, only a certain selection is considered for studies of language development. A comprehensive overview of the neuroanatomy of language processing can be found in A. D. Friederici. Thus, the functional processes that change in the course of children’s language development are rooted in structural changes that occur as the brain matures. The available anatomical results point to important brain structural foundations that enable successful language development. Studies on the brain functional and brain anatomical foundations of early language development are still rare.
