ABSTRACT
Study of language development has been the focus of attention of a number of professions concerned with early childhood. Because language development plays a crucial role in social and cognitive development it has attracted the attention of educators and clinicians. Social and cognitive development, in turn, play a role in language development. In addition, the effect of biological state and maturation on language development has been a focus of attention. Researchers have studied premature as compared to full-term infants in hopes of determining the effects of biological state on development. Many studies have explored speech and language mastery in both full-term and premature infants as a way of examining whether or not there are early and late differences that can be found in this development due to prematurity per se or to the complicating medical or social factors that accompany prematurity. As stated, language development has been a focus of attention because of the important role it plays in social and academic development, although other aspects of development can be affected by prematurity and accompanying factors. (For further information on recent studies of the effect of prematurity on a number of aspects of development, outside of language development, during the early years of life, readers can look at Rosenblith, 1992.)
