The acquisition of variation is a fundamental -- but poorly understood -- part of child language acquisition. We fully endorse Shin and Miller's call for us to recognize the importance of this core issue, and argue that our understanding could be further enriched by greater reliance on convergent methods. As such, we implore researchers to…

Based on findings from a variety of research, Shin and Miller (2022) propose a 4-step process that children go through as they learn sociolinguistic variation. Their proposal raises many interesting questions that should inspire future research. Here, I discuss their Step 1 -- the stage in which, according to their proposal, children produce only…

The well-known sampling limitation of most longitudinal corpus data can be even more consequential in the study of morphosyntactic variation in child language. An analysis of caregiver input suggests that variable use in overlapping contexts may be hard to find by solely relying on corpus data collected under the sampling procedures that are…

The first stage of combinatorial speech is better described as variable than uniform. Talk of variants obscures two different aspects of language (knowledge and use) and two different aspects of language development -- acquisition of the grammar (competence) and deployment of the grammar in speaking and listening (performance). Null subjects and…

In this personal reflection, Sonia Nieto recounts the lessons she learned about language and literacy from learning to speak Spanish and then English; to reading and writing; and the impact of these lessons on her identity, teaching, research, and life; and, more broadly, on the fields of education and literacy.

Bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA) has been considered a possible mechanism of contact-induced change in several recent studies (Siegel, 2008, p. 117; Satterfield, 2005, p. 2075; Thomason, 2001, p. 148; Yip & Matthews, 2007, p.15). There is as yet little consensus on the question, with divergent views regarding both BFLA at the individual…

The article by Amaral and Roeper (this issue; henceforth A&R) presents many interesting ideas about first and second language acquisition as well as some experimental data convincingly illustrating the difference between production and comprehension. The article extends the concept of Universal Bilingualism proposed in Roeper (1999) to second…

The starting hypothesis of the keynote article (KA) is that language acquisition plays an essential role in processes leading to grammatical change. Consequently, a minimal requirement, to be met by explanations of diachronic change is that they rely on mechanisms which are operative in acquisition. The KA is therefore an appeal for…

Jurgen Meisel argues that "grammatical variation...can be described...in terms of parametric variation", and--crucially for his arguments in this paper--that "parameter settings do not change across the lifespan". To this extent he adopts the standard generative view, but he then departs from what he calls "the literature on historical…

There is a long linguistic tradition in which language change is explained in terms of first language acquisition. In this tradition, children are considered to be the agents of language change, or at least the agents of changes in the underlying grammar. Since the early 1980s, this has been formulated in the (generative) terminology in terms of…

Children of the poor are at greater educational risk than the children of the wealthy, but to what extent, if any, are these risks the result of undetected linguistic considerations? This chapter reviews long-standing issues that influence students' academic and social experiences in school as well as more contemporary debates that respond to…

This paper discusses the biological and social views of grammar with reference to recent research on grammar and language acquisition, arguing that grammars are individual constructs existing in the minds of individual speakers. Contains 24 references. (MDM)

Argues that evolution of the phonological systems of natural languages and the typology of distinctive features is based on perceptual discontinuities of the auditory system. It is suggested that neonates rely on these innate sensitivities for acquisition of sound systems and that some phonological variation in early child phonology results from…

Challenges existing assumptions about literacy and literacy learning in an effort to both demonstrate and explore the transactive potentials of theory and methodology in the study of literacy. (HOD)

There are several things that English teachers at all educational levels need to know about linguistics. They must know, for example, that the terms "grammar,""dialect," and "register" have special meanings for the linguist. In addition, they must know the following: (1) regardless of language, a normal child will…