This study aimed to determine the average ages at which children imitate, produce and comprehend passive constructions. Previous findings that imitation precedes comprehension, which precedes production, are confirmed in this study for children aged 3-8. (CHK)

Description of a research project testing the hypothesis that at a given level of language learning the same kinds of errors are made by native and non-native speakers. Conclusions are drawn from the analysis of errors made by native French children and non-French speaking children. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

THIS PAPER IS A STUDY OF A CHILD'S EARLIEST PRETRANSFORMATIONAL LANGUAGE ACQUISITION PROCESSES. A MODEL IS CONSTRUCTED BASED ON THE ASSUMPTIONS (1) THAT SYNTACTIC ACQUISITION OCCURS THROUGH THE TESTING OF HYPOTHESES REFLECTING THE INITIAL STRUCTURE OF THE ACQUISITION MECHANISM AND THE LANGUAGE DATA TO WHICH THE CHILD IS EXPOSED, AND (2) THAT…

The present level of understanding of the psycholinguistic processes and capacities underlying the child's acquisition of language is reviewed in this publication. In the first chapter, linguistic theories, biological characteristics of language learning, and the distinctions between language competence and language performance are discussed. The…

This paper proposes a broad outline of a variable model of language development and explores several particulars of such a model in the language behavior of four two-year-old children. The process by which information about language is progressively transformed and integrated rather than merely being added together can be seen in the shifting…