For example, a child mighl use the vocabulary or syntac-tic structure of one language when attempting to communicate in the olher language.

As a result, their stories might be assumed to be indicative of lower academic ability and language competency, when, in fact, a complex process of dis-tinguishing between the various aspects of each language is occurring.

In some locales in the United States, a drinking fountain is referred to as a bubbler.

When speech directed to young children is at a slower pace or temf it allows for linguistic processing: it takes time lo process speech cognitively. If y, have ever been inn setting where you were a nonnative speaker, you may ha wished that tho native speakers would just speak more slowly.

Whon this routine hns been repeated suc-cessfully with infants (G-'12 months of ago) over lime, they begin to respond to the verbal phrase or word by looking nl the speaker nnd then Lo the location sig-naled by the udull's gesture. After shared reference is established, communicn· Lion about the object or event occul's.

Allison's shoes and socks ore now on, nnd Allison becomes distracted by her 4-yeor-old sister, who is also playing in the backyard. Allison leaves hor mom's lnp, and the singing ends. Two minutes later, Allison is observed singing the duck song to herself as she walks in the backyard.

"Now say 'bye-bye'," and the child responds with an immediate nllompt to repoat the specific word(s). Or, it may occur as a result of delayed modeling, when the child approximates previously modeled speech in a similar setting without being prompted.

a wide range of children's literature should bo road lo children so thnl L1iey can .develop and test hypotheses about how language is used Lo communicate.

The ability to learn language is a quality of the human species because humans obviously are not designed to acquire one language over another. Healthy infants are able "lo learn any of the world's 3,000 languages" (Rushton, Eitelgeorge, & Zickafoose, 2003, p. 13).

For example, a mother of a 5-year-old might dis-cover that the verbal whining she often heard at home from her child never occurred when the child w.as at school.

Early on in lhe development of communicative competence, children's efforts appear to have purpose or intent. An 8-month-old child who looks at her mother \vilh outslrelchod arms and produces strained vocalizations (/uh/ /uh/) is assumed to be communicating thal she wants to be picked up. If not initially sue· cessful, the child may repeat her request, vocalize louder, or gesture more emphati· cally (Gleason, 1993).