Blackwell Handbook of Language Development

Review
"Catapulting us full-speed into the twenty-first century, the 'Blackwell Handbook of Language Development' offers a stunning vista on contemporary knowledge about language development in our species. The mystery of the child's linguistic mind is laid bare while thoroughly explaining the important social and cognitive contexts in which it grows. The edition's eminent editors, Hoff and Shatz, offer brilliant insights, theoretical notes, and historical views that give depth and urgency to the field's looming modern questions, and the text's contributors are an international tour-de-force whose ingenious research provide a new look on the magic of human language learning. Fascinating accounts of language development in infancy, early childhood, later childhood, the bilingual child, and atypical language development are included. This must-read text will interest scholars, students, and professionals, alike, and will utterly satisfy all those who have ever marveled at the beauty of language or wondered about how our magnificent human mind discovered and learned it." Laura-Ann Pettito, Dartmouth College "Hoff and Shatz have gathered an important and lively set of new articles on child language learning with broad topical coverage, and considerable attention to foundational issues as well as recent empirical findings. Diverse points of view are well represented and explained. This collection would certainly be my choice as a text for advanced courses and seminars on language acquisition." Professor Lila Gleitman, University of Pennsylvania "The authors … have risen to the monumental challenge of charting language development … .The book successfully captures the complexities of language development across time." Canadian Psychology