The missing majority in child language research: A commentary on Kidd and Garcia (2022)

Abstract

In this commentary, I refer to the issue of typological differences and how they impact the acquisition data by discussing findings from Bangla. Previous and ongoing studies of the acquisition of Bangla reveal that several claims regarding children’s linguistic trajectory, emerging from some of the well-studied languages, are not confirmed. I also argue that language acquisition research is not adequately supported in the Global South and propose a few ways to support research on under-studied languages.