Preface by Halliday 王宗炎序 Prdface by Chomsky 沈家煊序 导读 Preface:How to use this book Acknowledgements 1 What do children bring to the language acquisition task? Chapter summary Introduction Two different approaches Competence versus performance Some recurring questions Some premises Questions for discussion An activity Further reading 2 How do children communicate before they can use language? Chapter summary Clues for understanding Facial expressions Cries,coos and grunts Infant speech perception Babbling The transition to language First words Gestures Language and gesture Discussion of in-text exercises Questions for discussion Some activities …… 3 When does language development start? 4 How do young children think languageworks? 5 What in fluences language development? 6 Do all children learn language the same way? 7 Does it matter which languange(s) you learn? 8 When does language development stop? Appendix 1 Tools for studying childern's language Appendix 2 Phonetic symbols