The majority of children acquire language effortlessly but approximately 10% of all children find it difficult especially in the early or preschool years with consequences for many aspects of their subsequent development and experience: literacy, social skills, educational qualifications, mental health and employment. With contributions from an international team of researchers, this book is the first to draw together a series of new analyses of data related to children's language development, primarily from large-scale nationally representative population studies, and to bring a public health perspective to the field. The book begins with a section on factors influencing the patterns of language development. A second section explores continuity and change in language development over time. The third explores the impact on individuals with developmental language disorders (DLD), the effectiveness of available interventions, and broader issues about the need for equity in the delivery of services to those with DLD.
Part I. Introduction: 1. Language development: Individual differences in a social context James Law, Sheena Reilly, and Cristina McKean; 2. Social Contexts and Language Development: Past, Present, and Future Erika Hoff, Anders Højen, and Dorthe Bleses; Part II. Factors Influencing Language Development Sheena Reilly: 3. Genetic Studies of Language Disorders Hayley Mountford, Ruth Braden, Angela Morgan, and Diane Newbury; 4. Hearing and Language Peter Carew and Traci Flynn; 5. Comorbidity between language difficulties and common conditions in childhood Emma Sciberras, Amanda Brignell, and Katy Mueller; 6. Language and Cognition Sabine Weinert; 7. Growing Up in Multilingual Communities Elizabeth D. Peña, Lisa M. Bedore, Julio Torres, and Yenda Prado; 8. Parent-child interaction and language learning Penny Levickis, Laura Conway, Jodie Smith, and Shannon Bennetts; 9. Cognitive Competencies and Signals of Risk Kirsten Asmussen, James Law, and Jenna Charlton; 10. Creating Equitable Opportunities for Language and Literacy Development in Childhood and Adolescence Catherine L. Taylor, Daniel Christensen, and Stephen R. Zubrick; Part III. Continuity and Change James Law; 11. Language Trajectories in Childhood: The Nature and Drivers of Individual Differences and their Implications for Intervention Cristina McKean, Fiona Mensah, and Sheena Reilly; 12. Patterns of Language Development from Childhood to Adulthood and the Associated Long-Term Psychosocial Outcomes Rebecca Armstrong and James G. Scott; 13. Social Inequalities in Vocabulary and the Role of Reading Alice Sullivan, Vanessa Moulton, Matthew Brown, and Emla Fitzsimons; 14. The Dynamic Nature of Predictors and Outcomes in Children's Language Development throughout Childhood Elizabeth Westrupp, Maggie Yu, Jan Nicholson, and Donna Berthelsen; Part IV. Impact Intervention and Equity Cristina McKean: 15. Communication, Participation and Cohort Studies Sharynne McLeod, Jane McCormack, and Helen L. Blake; 16. Capturing the Voice of Parents and Children: The Potential Impact for the Design and Implementation of Research and Services Sue Roulstone and Rena Lyons; 17. Oral Language Skills as a Foundation for Learning to Learn Patricia Eadie; 18. The Economic Impact of Low Language Ability in Childhood Ha N.D Le, Fiona Mensah, Patricia Eadie, Sheena Reilly, and Lisa Gold; 19. A Review of Interventions to Promote Language Development in Early Childhood Penny Levickis, Pooja Patel, Cristina McKean, Jodie Smith, Naomi Hackworth, James Law, Elizabeth Westrupp, and Sheena Reilly; 20. Interventions to Promote Language Development in Typical and Atypical Populations James Law and Jenna Charlton; 21. The Effect of Kindergarten Instructional Policies on Reading and Math Achievement Gaps Jane Waldfogel and Yi Wang; 22. Educational Interventions Targeting Language Development Laura M. Justice and Sonia Q. Cabell; 23 Equity and Access to Services for Children with Language Difficulties Sheena Reilly, James Law, Maya Conway, and Michelle Krahe; Index.
James Law is Professor of Speech and Language Science at Newcastle University. He received an OBE for services to speech and language therapy in 2018. Sheena Reilly is Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Health Group at Griffith University. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to tertiary education, medical research, and paediatric speech pathology in 2020. Cristina McKean is Professor of Child Language Development and Disorders at Newcastle University. Her work focuses on identifying children at risk, and the design of internationally relevant, effective interventions and services.
