HOW LANGUAGE COMES TO CHILDREN: FROM BIRTH TO TWO YEARS. Bénédicte de Boysson-Bardies (translated by MalcolmDeBevoise). Cambridge, MA: A Brafford Book, The NET Press, 1999. Pp. xiv + 274. $27.50paper.

Abstract

The focus of this book is the very early stages of language acquisition, with (an inevitable) particular focus on phonological and lexical development. As such, it might have been better if enfantsin the original title had been translated as “infants,” because the main title might mislead one into thinking that the book would illuminate a longer developmental path than it actually does. That said, there is much in this volume that might interest a second language researcher interested in second language phonology and lexis who would like to be reminded of what the human animal does under the natural circumstances of first language acquisition. It presents a particularly clear picture of the sensitivities of infants to human sounds, as well as a detailed account of how those sensitivities become tuned to particular language characteristics very early on.