Resources for Instructors

We are preparing more resources that instructors at colleges and universities could use to teach about child language development. Stay tuned! (If you have any suggestions, though, please send them to our Media Coordinator.)

Check the Useful websites, Courses on child language - recent past and current, Real-life examples of children talking, Textbooks, Handbooks, and Online Resources: Fundamentals sections.

Useful websites

Being Multilingual, a website and a blog providing information on multilingual child language development.

Courses on child language - recent past and current

Real-life examples of children talking

List of videos of children talking found on Youtube and other platforms by IASCL members. The fact that a clip is on this list does not imply that the IASCL endorses it. This list is just offered as a service for users to quickly find examples of children talking. If you wish to receive the list in .xls or .csv format, please send an email to the IASCL media coordinator. Please feel free to contribute to this list using this form. We would particularly welcome videos in languages other than English.

The Valange project, a compilation of videos of children talking in French. Each video includes a transcription, metadata, analysis and references.

Textbooks

An Introduction to Bilingual Development, by Annick De Houwer (2009), Multilingual Matters

Bilingual First Language Acquisition, by Annick De Houwer (2009), Multilingual Matters

Critical Issues in Infant-Toddler Language Development. Connecting Theory to Practice, by Daniel R. Meier (ed., 2022), Routledge

Dual Language Development & Disorders. A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning, by Johanne Paradis, Fred Genesee, & Martha Crago (2021, 3rd ed.), Brookes Publishing

First Language Acquisition, by Eve Clark (2024, 4th ed.), Cambridge University Press 

Introduction to Language Development, by Sandra Levey (ed., 2022), Plural

Language Acquisition, the Basics, by Paul Ibbotson (2022), Routledge

Language Development From Theory to Practice, by Khara L. Pence Turnbull & Laura M. Justice (2017, 3rd. ed.), Pearson

Language in Children, by Eve V. Clark (2017), Routledge
The Routledge page for this short (162 pages) textbook has a whole collection of weblinks that instructors will find very useful.

Kindlicher Spracherwerb, by Christina Kauschke (2012), De Gruyter

Sprachentwicklung: Entwicklung – Diagnostik – Förderung im Kleinkind- und Vorschulalter, by Steffi Sachse, Ann-Katrin Bockmann, & Anke Buschmann (eds., 2020), Springer

The Development of Language, by Jean Berko Gleason and Nan Bernstein Ratner (eds., 2022), Plural

Understanding Child Language Acquisition, by Caroline Rowland (2014), Routledge

Vom Sprachprofi zum Sprachförderprofi. Linguistisch fundierte Sprachförderung in Kita und Grundschule, by Barbara Voet Cornelli, Sabrina Geyer, Anja Müller, Petra Lemmer & Petra Schulz (2020), Beltz

Handbooks

Online Resources: Fundamentals

Symbolic play:
Symbolic play is of great importance for the early development of language and literacy. View this video by veteran child language researcher Dr. Carol Westby clearly explaining the developmental course, with great video examples with real children. A written overview of the main points in the video can be found here.