ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on language development, that is difficult to separate communication from language because language is acquired in the context of communication. It examines the biological basis for language, some proposals about the universal structure of language, and environmental factors, such as the language directed toward the child, that influence the development of language. The chapter discusses each component of language—phonology, semantics, and syntax—separately, but readers should keep in mind that youngsters learning language acquire these three components simultaneously. Some theorists have suggested that preverbal communication is a necessary prerequisite for language development, and others have proposed that the preverbal and linguistic stages are separate, with no continuity between them.
