ABSTRACT
This chapter is designed to more thoroughly overview some of the many ways in which family relationships influence children’s development. It elaborates on some of the ideas already touched upon some new ways in which the family shapes a child’s ability to use communication effectively. The chapter explores links between adult–child language and youngsters’ linguistic and communicative development and between what is known as maternal speech and children’s language acquisition. It details more general interaction patterns that occur within the family. The chapter discusses children’s linguistic and communicative development in relation to: general parenting styles, social class differences in linguistic and communicative development, behavioral modes characteristic of fathers’ interaction with children, and the impact of siblings. The chapter looks at discipline and its effects and argues that parents’ disciplinary efforts not only remediate bad behavior, but also teach children important lessons about the nature of the social world and the role communication plays in it.
