Acknowledgments xix About the Companion Website xx About the Book 1 Reasons to Read the Book 1 Unique Approaches of the Book 4 Paying balanced attention to all learners 4 Emphasizing language and literacy supporting strategies 4 Encouraging thinking, questions, and explorations 4 Situating language and literacy development in students'' cognitive and social development 5 Teaching across ages 6 Treating language and literacy as an interrelated process 6 Focusing on academic language and academic literacy 7 Linking language and literacy development to identity and motivation 8 Valuing different language acquisition experiences 8 Providing various linguistic experiences 9 Note on developmental stages 9 Overview of the Book 10 Key Terms 12 Notes 12 Part I Introduction 13 1 Working with Diverse Students: Some Important Issues 15 Prereading Questions and Activities 15 Topics to Be Addressed in This Chapter 15 Learning Objectives 16 Importance of Teacher Knowledge on Language and Literacy 16 Interpreting assessment results from specialist reports 17 Identifying students'' linguistic needs 17 Meeting teacher education professional standards 18 Critical Discourse Analysis Conceptual Framework 19 Transformative Pedagogy 20 Evolving Definition of Literacy 24 Reconceptualization of the Labels for Diverse Students 26 Second language learners vs new language learners 27 Bilingual vs multilingual 28 Disorder vs difficulty; symptoms vs characteristics 28 Delay vs deviant 29 People-first language 29 The bottom line in choosing words 29 Summary of Key Points 30 Key Terms 31 Notes 31 Recommended Further Readings 31 2 Complex Factors That Influence Language Acquisition and Literacy Development 33 Prereading Questions and Activities 33 Topics to Be Addressed in This Chapter 34 Learning Objectives 35 Language As a Genetically Predispositioned Human Universal 36 Pidgin 37 Creole 38 Deaf children of hearing parents 38 Nicaraguan Sign Language 38 Language acquisition trajectories of children with disabilities 39 Biological Factors 39 Human brain: the neural underpinnings of language acquisition 39 Sensitive period of language acquisition 41 Heredity and individual differences 43 Gender differences 44 Ecological Factors That Influence Language and Literacy Development 46 Parental cultural childrearing beliefs and practices 46 Parental socioeconomic status and education levels 47 Parental input frequency 48 Extended family and sibling support 48 Language use in sociocultural context 49 Language Divergence Factors 50 Language particulars 50 Orthographic differences 50 Modality Factors 52 Spoken language vs signed language 52 Spoken language vs reading and writing 53 Conventional print vs digital print 53 Motivation and Identity Factors 54 Types of First Language Acquisition 55 Summary of Key Points 57 Key Terms 58 Notes 58 Recommended Further Readings 59 Language Sample Analysis I 60 Part II Developing Language and Emergent Literacies: Divergent Abilities in Infancy and Early Childhood (Birth to 5) 63 3 Acquiring One Linguistic System: First Language Acquisition 65 Prereading Questions and Activities 65 Topics to Be Addressed in This Chapter 65 Learning Objectives 66 Typical Development Profile in Infancy and Early Childhood 66 Developing Essential Language Abilities 67 Phonological development 68 Lexical-semantic development 72 Morphosyntactic development 76 Pragmatic development 78 Early metalinguistic awareness 85 Special Issues Related to Language Acquisition 86 Private speech 86 Gestures 87 Dialect 87 Developing Emergent Literacies 90 Emergent knowledge of environmental print 92 Emergent knowledge of print conventions 92 Emergent knowledge of writing 92 Emergent digital literacy 93 Emergent critical literacy 94 Special Issues Related to Emergent Literacy Development 94 Dialect and emergent literacy development 94 Cultural differences in early literacy practice 95 Supporting Language and Emergent Literacy Development in Infancy and Early Childhood 96 General approaches in working with young children 96 Focus of language and emergent literacy support in early childhood 97 Holistic strategies in facilitating language and literacy growth 97 Summary of Key Points 108 Key Terms 109 Notes 110 Recommended Further Readings 110 4 Acquiring More Than One Linguistic System: Multilingual First Language Acquisition 111 Prereading Questions and Activities 111 Topics to Be Addressed in This Chapter 111 Learning Objectives 112 Cognitive Attributes of Acquiring More Than One L1 113 Complex Issues about Acquiring More Than One L1 113 The cutoff age of multilingual L1 acquisition and Ln learning 114 Input quantity and quality 115 Multilingual acquisition settings differences 116 Different multilingual effects on language acquisition 116 Misconceptions about multilingualism 116 Potential differences between different types of multilingual L1 acquisition 117 One system or separate systems 118 Cross-linguistic interaction 118 Rate of acquisition 119 Language and thought 120 Language-specific issues 121 Developing Essential Multilingual Linguistic Abilities 121 Multilingual phonological development 121 Multilingual lexical-semantic development 128 Multilingual morphosyntactic development 131 Multilingual pragmatic development 133 Metalinguistic development 134 Developing Emergent Multilingual Literacies 135 Emergent knowledge of print conventions in different languages 135 Emergent knowledge of multilingual writing 135 Cross-language interaction on emergent literacy knowledge 136 Emergent multilingual digital literacy 136 Emergent critical literacy 136 Supporting Emergent Multilingual and Multiliteracy Development in Early Childhood 137 Book reading 137 Media 137 Explicit teaching 138 Communication demand 138 Concept building 138 Gesture use 138 Summary of Key Points 140 Key Terms 141 Notes 141 Recommended Further Readings 142 5 Acquiring First Language(s) with Difficulties 143 Prereading Questions and Activities 143 Topics to Be Addressed in This Chapter 143 Learning Objectives 144 Language Impairment in Infancy and Early Childhood 144 What is language impairment? 145 Types of language impairment covered in this book 146 Developmental Profiles of Children with LI 147 Children with Down syndrome 147 Children with autism spectrum disorder 147 Children with specific language impairment 148 Children with hearing impairment 149 Children with vision impairment 150 Language Development Characteristics of Children with LI 150 Children with Down syndrome 151 Children with autism spectrum disorder 152 Children with specific language impairment 154 Children with hearing impairment 156 Children with vision impairment 158 Multilingual children with LI 159 Development of Emergent Literacies 161 Supporting Strategies for Children with LI in Early Childhood 162 Use of narratives as a comprehensive measure to determine areas of support 163 Reciprocal interaction and imitation 166 Joint attention 166 Oral language skills 167 Emergent literacy skills 169 Art and music 169 Augmentative and alternative communication 170 Nonverbal use 170 Explicit support in concerned areas 171 Summary of Key Points 173 Key Terms 174 Notes 175 Recommended Further Readings 175 Language Sample Analysis II 177 Part III Developing Language and Literacies: Divergent Abilities in Middle Childhood (6-11) 181 6 Typical Development of Language and Literacies in Middle Childhood 183 Prereading Activities and Questions 183 Topics to Be Addressed in This Chapter 184 Learning Objectives 184 Typical Developmental Profile in Middle Childhood 185 Major Language Developmental Characteristics in Middle Childhood 186 Phonological Development 186 Lexical-semantic development 187 Morphosyntactic development 189 Pragmatic development 191 Metalinguistic development 193 Development of Literacies in Middle Childhood 194 Reading 194 Writing 196 Hypertext 197 Critical literacy 198 Special Issues 198 Academic language and academic literacy development 198 Supporting Language and Literacy Development in Elementary Grades 200 General principles 200 Focus of literacy support 201 Supporting strategies 201 Summary of Key Points 220 Key Terms 222 Notes 223 Recommended Further Readings 223 7 Learning a New Language in Middle Childhood 224 Prereading Questions and Activities 224 Topics to Be Addressed in This Chapter 224 Learning Objectives 225 Learning a Ln.