Child's Talk: Learning to Use Language

by Jerome Bruner

Book Overview

To carry out his investigations, Bruner went to "the clutter of life at home," the child's own setting for learning, rather than observing children in a "contrived video laboratory." For Bruner, language is learned by using it. An central to its use are what he calls "formats," scriptlike interactions between mother and child--in short, play and games. What goes on in games as rudimentary as peekaboo or hide-and-seek can tell us much about language...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393953459
• ISBN13: 9780393953459
• Release Date: March 1985
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 146 Pages
• Weight: 0.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Language Acquisition

An easy to read explanation of Bruner's theory of language acquisition. Although based on infants learning to speak the theory could also apply to older people learning a second language.