The general goals of this study of Luo children in Kenya were (1) to provide a description of the acquisition of language in terms of categories acquired within the age range of 12-35 months; (2) to account for their linguistic competence in the generation of their language; and (3) to illustrate how social settings alter the linguistic performances of children. Conducting his research according to the designs and goals of Slobin's "A Field Manual for Cross-Cultural Studies" (1967), the author selected an initial sampling of 24 children (later increasing the sample to 38) and visited them periodically over a period of nine months. On the basis of data collected, the author has attempted to provide answers to the following questions: (1) At what age does babbling terminate? (2) At what age does the use of one-word utterances begin? (3) What are the characteristics of the one-word stage? (4) When does the two-word stage begin, and what are its characteristics? (5) What are the features of subsequent grammatical development? Information on the general nature of speech socialization and on the acquisition of rules governing the use of speech is also presented in this dissertation. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of original document.] (AMM)