Preface Author's preface SECTION I Survey Introduction Acquisition:when I was a child,I spoke as a child ‘...no language but a cry’ First words The birth of grammar Evidence for innateness Childish creativity Stages of linguistic development Production:putting words in one's mouth Conceptualization Formulation Articulation Articulation Self-mointoring Comprehension:understanding what we hear and read The comprehension of sonuds The comprehension of words The comprehension of sentences The comprehension of texts Comprehension concluded Dissolution:language loss Neurolinguistics and language loss Speech and language disorders Concluding summary SECTION 2 Readings SECTION 3 References SECTION 4 Glossary