ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is about spoken and written English, and so from time to time it deals with the sounds of speech as well as the letters of the alphabet. It discusses how bilingual and multilingual children learn English alongside other languages; and how all children acquire different varieties of English. The book as a whole also takes a broadly functional approach to language learning, suggesting that learners at all stages of development are not simply acquiring linguistic structures, but also an ability to use these to perform social acts. It considers how young children learn English as their first language. It then sees such learning primarily as a collaborative, social activity, in which children learn to use the linguistic structures of English to achieve certain ends.
