Towards an integrated view of language acquisition

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the potentials of combining theories of first and second language acquisition with research in language disordered children. In second language acquisition research there has been a strong interest in comparisons between different languages, i.e. language typology research. However, researchers in both normal first language development and in child language disorders have, for natural reasons, focussed on the children's mother tongues. Preliminary results indicate that language typology can be used as a tool to predict and explain acquisition orders of specific structures in individual children with different mother tongues. We believe that a detailed knowledge of developmental patterns, based on rich and varied data, could make a sound base for planning of tests and therapy both for language disordered children and for immigrant children acquiring Swedish as a second language.Modern intraction studies have highly influenced the view on language and on language developm...