Derived from the first phase of a research study entitled "The Cognitive and Social Development of Pre-School Children in Singapore" (the IE-BvLF study), the essays in this collection focus on the language, numeracy, cognitive, and social development of approximately 3,000 Singapore children between 1983 and 1986. Following a prologue offering an example of a researcher-child dialogue, Ho Wah Kam in the Introduction to the book describes the theoretical underpinnings of the IE-BvLF study, traces changing perspectives on early language development, and reviews research on thought and language, bilingualism, and bilingualism and cognition. After summarizing the remaining chapters, Kam explains the cross-cultural perspective and value judgements embedded in the research. The remaining chapters are: (1) "Singapore Pre-schoolers: How Much Do We Know about Them?" (Sim Wong Kooi and Frances Lee Moi Fah); (2) "Children's Language: How Do Our Children Communicate?" (Frances Lee Moi Fah); (3) "Children's Thinking: How Do Our Children Make Sense of the World?" (Ko Peng Sim and Frances Lee Moi Fah); (4) "Children's Talk and Play: Do Our Children's Behaviours Reflect Their Parents and Homes?" (Frances Lee Moi Fah); and (5) "The Cognitive and Social Development of Pre-School Children in Singapore: What Have We Learned from the IE-BvLF Study?" (Ko Peng Sim). Appendixes contain an explanation of the research methodology, a list of the seminars and activities through which study findings have been disseminated, and a taxonomy of Social, Cognitive, Mathematics, and Language Tasks. (AC)