Language Development and Language Impairment – A Problem–Based Introduction

"This is an extremely useful book. The overviews of each major aspect of typical language learning from infancy through to the school years are detailed and accessible and provide an excellent basis for the approach to the various problems with language learning than can arise in atypical development. It provides an excellent resource for the teaching of both typical and atypical language development."
Elena Lieven, University of Manchester

"In this engaging and accessible book, Fletcher and O'Toole provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of research into language development, demonstrating how the 'effortless achievement' of learning to speak and understand is actually accomplished. Vignettes of children using language support the key points in each chapter, making this a useful source book for all those who work with young children."
Usha Goswami, University of Cambridge

"I'm sure this will become a favorite text for students of speech-language therapy. The problem-based approach is perfect for helping bridge the gap between research and practice. Highly recommended."
Dorothy Bishop, University of Oxford

Language Development and Language Impairment offers a problem-based introduction to language impairment in the preschool years, from the vantage point of typical language development. The authors begin with an overview of issues in the study of language development, and an introduction to some of the causes of language impairment. This is followed by a thorough examination of the infrastructure for speech and language laid down in the first year of life, and the potential for speech or language deficits should the trajectory of development in this period be deflected, diverted, or delayed. Subsequent chapters deal separately with development and impairment in the sound system, in the acquisition of vocabulary, in the grammatical system, and in conversation and narrative. Chapters are organized around a series of "problems" - case histories, datasets, quotations, conversations, etc. - which serve to focus the discussion of a specific topic in typical development or impairment. By considering in detail the major features of the foundational years of language development, Language Development and Language Impairment offers invaluable insights into the optimal and sub-optimal evolution of a child's linguistic competence.