The present study aims to identify individual differences in both rate and style of language acquisition in a sample of 15 Italian- speaking children, observed at 16 and 20 months of age. The nature as well as the stability of such differences over time were investigated, and the usefulness of different criteria for defining stylistic tendencies was evaluated. Fifteen middle-high class children and their mothers participated in the longitudinal study. The mother-child dyads were videotaped at home when the children were 16 and 20 month old. In addition to the observational data, at the same age points the mothers were administered a structured questionnaire designed to evaluate the level of the child's linguistic development.
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