The Blackwell Handbook of Language Development provides a comprehensive treatment of the major topics and current concerns in the field. Covering new academic terrain in areas such as brain development, computational skills, bilingualism, education, and cross-linguistic comparisons, this volume explores the progress of twenty-first century research in language development while considering its precursors and looking towards promising research topics for the future. This balanced and accessible volume collects the work of a generation of researchers who are enlarging the field to consider internal and external bases for language development and to address a wide range of language development outcomes.

Presenting recent research in the traditional topics of language development from infancy through early childhood, this book also expands upon those topics to include work on older children, exploring how linguistic knowledge develops with experiences such as learning a second language and acquiring writing skills. The expansive coverage of foundational and emerging topics makes this book an excellent resource for researchers, instructors, and graduate students in developmental psychology, linguistics, and education.

Erika Hoff is Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University. She is author of Language Development (2005).

Marilyn Shatz is Professor of Psychology and Linguistics at the University of Michigan. She is author of A Toddler's Life (1994).