On the Ontogenetic Requirements for Early Language Acquisition

Abstract

(from the chapter) summarizes research which is concerned with uncovering the biological mechanisms and environmental factors that together determine the course of early human language acquisition compare hearing and deaf infants' acquisition of spoken and signed languages from 4 mo through 4 yrs of age discuss the theory that best explains the facts of very early language acquisition the structure-recognition mechanism theory discovery of an identical time course in speech and sign acquisition discovery of manual babbling discovery of a dissociation between early language and gesture discovery of constraints on language versus gesture the infant: structure-recognition mechanism within infant interactions: structure, motor, and general perceptual constraints (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2000 APA, all rights reserved).