Language, Children and Society

Language, Children and Society: The Effect of Social Factors on Children Learning to Communicate investigates the processes involved in the development of communicative skills in young children, in particular as these unfold during the child's participation in social interactions in a variety of everyday, educational situations. For a fuller understanding of these processes, through which the child learns the vast array of communicative skills necessary to function effectively in social contexts, the broad range of situations in which the communicative exchanges are embedded—school, home, community, etc.—are examined. Comprised of 17 chapters, this volume begins by painting a vivid picture of human discrimination and prejudice that touches every child involved in the education process in the United States, a result that can be linked to language ignorance. The discussion then turns to some of the contributions of linguistics to education and some of the problems involved in reaching greater cooperation between linguists and educators. The relevance of developments in sociolinguistics to the study of language learning and early education is emphasized. Subsequent chapters focus on the communicative competence of kindergarten children; children's situational variation and situational competence; sex differences in the language of children and parents; and dialogue, monologue, and egocentric speech by children in nursery schools. This book will be of interest to teachers and students, as well as to practitioners in the fields of educational psychology, psychobiology, psychiatry, linguistics, and childhood education.