ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews key points regarding visual learning that are relevant to early language learning, including how children segment and attend to visual objects. It explains about children’s egocentric views of objects and their relevance for language learning. The chapter discusses several new directions – the role of language in creating visual experiences and atypical language development – for language learning research grounded in the discoveries about visual objects as they are encountered by young language learners. Parents and caregivers also modify their behavior, based on the skills and interests of their infant, in ways that matter for access to visual objects. The contents of the egocentric view are essential for researchers to understand what visual object information is available to young learners. Egocentric views reveal properties of the visual environment that are available to young learners and therefore available to shape their attention and learning.
