This paper begins with a short sketch of the history of the study of language
development, from 600 B.C. to the 1970's. Recently, developmental psycholinguistics
has branched out to study a number of new topics, some of which (such as the
development of dialogue or the nature of the caretaker's speech) stray far from the
traditional study of the development of children's grammars. Two of these sub-areas
of study, namely meta-linguistic thinking and the development of
literacy, are described and discussed in more detail. Some recent research
results are reported: links between the two sub-areas seem to emerge.
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