Overview

• In-depth discussions of key controversies about language development.
• Comprehensive front matter for each chapter with objectives, technical terms and a forecast abstracting the content of the chapter.
• Uses the pros and cons of different positions to provide an interesting platform for the introduction of theory, technical terms and key concepts, promoting active learning.
• DVD (free with the text), which follows the organization of the book, using film clips to richly demonstrate the cases. The DVD also includes self-test examination preparation questions, PowerPoint slides and other handy resources. Instructor only DVD also includes student evaluation tests.
• End matter in each chapter includes discussion questions suitable for a one minute essay.

Milestones: Normal Speech and Language Development Across the Lifespan is a textbook for the introductory course in Language Development for students in Speech-Language Pathology, Communication Disorders, Special Education, Educational Psychology and Education. It adopts a coherent chronological approach, beginning with responsiveness to speech and language in the womb and working across the lifespan into maturity and beyond.

By using a chronological organization, the text helps students relate the material to the whole person at each milestone. It takes a constructive approach, starting with the simplest theoretical apparatus of the youngest infant, gradually increasing in complexity and comprehensiveness one milestone at a time. The organizational background becomes a series of narratives of interesting cases, keeping the theory and structure of language development grounded in real stories.

Click here for more information about John Oller's research and writing.

Reviews

• Sarah J. Lockhard:
  "I really enjoyed reading Milestones. It's something I'll refer to in my profession [as a speech-language pathologist] on a constant basis. I've learned more useful information in this class than in any other."

• Kelly Breaux:
  "The reading is going very well. I was surprised at how easy it was to understand. I took this class last semester [using a different book], but dropped because I didn't understand. Milestones is helping me to understand a lot better."

• Marissa Evans:
  "The Milestones book is very organized and easily navigable."

• Jolie Le Blanc:
  "The book is organized like a story and this makes it easier to learn from and to remember."

• Christy L. Primeaux:
  "I have always preferred to write essay tests, but through the Milestones book I have also learned how to take multiple choice tests."

• Marissa Evans:
  "Having pictures and websites to go along with the reading was an added bonus also."

Audience

Primary Subject: Speech and Language Pathology / Language Development and Disorders
Audience Level: Textbook - Desk Copy

• Why we Start at the Beginning.
• Language Development Even Before Birth.
• Sensory-Motor Sign Systems at Birth.
• The Objects and Persons of Early Infancy.
• Initializing Coordinated Movements.
• Moving on to Joint Attention.
• Vocal Turn-Taking Leading to Canonical Babble.
• From Babbled Conversations to the First Word.
• Solving Syntax to a Limit of Diminishing Returns.
• Solving Essential Pragmatic Problems.
• Differentiating Dialects and Special Issues of Second Languages.
• Language and Speech as Factors in Testing and Assessment.
• Language/Dialect in the Large Perspective.
• Index.

About The Authors

John Oller, Jr., Ph.D.

Dr. John Oller is Hawthorne Regents Professor IV at the University of Louisiana; author of 230+ peer-reviewed papers and 16 books; his current research concerns the causation, diagnosis, and treatment autism and related disorders and chronic disease conditions; he continues to mentor distinguished scholars and is an internationally renowned speaker.

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Stephen Oller, Ph.D.

Stephen Oller, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Theater Arts at Texas A&M University–Kingsville. His research papers apply the theory of abstraction to language assessment with first, second, and disordered language populations. He also spends time in the natural laboratory of life with his own developing language learners (Brenden Gabrielle, and Aubree to name only the first three).

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Linda Badon, Ph.D.

Linda C. Badon, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Her primary research papers, complementing her clinical work, deal with assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders as well as language, literacy, and cultural diversity. She has served on essential doctoral committees producing some of the key research presented in this book.

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