THIS ISSUE AND WHY IT MATTERS
L
earning to talk is one of the most exciting developmental
milestones in early childhood. Language acquisition opens
up whole new worlds of communication, exploration,
discovery, and learning. Parents and other caregivers eagerly
anticipate and joyfully applaud a child’s first words and sentences.
When speech is delayed, it may be the first indication of a possible
developmental problem. In their article, Betty Bardige and
M. Kori Bardige provide an overview of the stages of language
development, explain why talking with babies promotes rich
language acquisition, and highlight strategies to encourage
language skills at each stage.
The article by Wendy Jones and Isabella Lorenzo-Hubert
suggests that our ability to understand and support language
development requires thoughtful attention to the cultural context in which a child is learning to
speak. A family’s culture will influLanguage acquisition
ence when, how, why, and what to
opens up whole new
worlds of communication, say to an infant or toddler; expecexploration, discovery, tations of children’s abilities; and
and learning.
what is perceived to be developmentally appropriate. Understanding families’ expectations and needs are especially important
when a child is learning more than one language.
Indeed, children and families who speak more than one language
experience particular challenges and questions: Should we teach
both languages at the same time? Will it confuse my child if different people speak to him in different languages? Will teaching our
child our native language make it harder for her to learn English?
If we teach English first, will he be able to learn our home language
later? There are many myths and misunderstandings about the process of dual language acquisition, and the article by Fred Genesee
provides some insight and guidance on this subject.
Dual language acquisition does not just raise questions for parents. It also has implications for how staff members of early care and
education programs design and implement effective services. The
federal Head Start program has estimated that 84% of the programs
have children enrolled who speak two or more languages, with
approximately 140 languages represented. To help programs better
respond to the language learning needs of an increasingly diverse
population, the Office of Head Start funded the Cultural Responsiveness and Dual Language Education (CRADLE) training project
in 2005. Pilar Fort and Robert Stechuk share accomplishments and
lessons learned from project CRADLE in their article.
Before children speak their first words, they use a wide variety of gestures to communicate. Teaching babies to use a form
of “sign language” has become an increasingly popular way for
parents and other caregivers to teach communication skills in
infancy. Claire Vallotton provides fascinating evidence of early
gesture use as a way for infants to begin to think about and modify their own behavior, and raises new questions about the
remarkable capacity of the very young mind.
Stefanie Powers, Editor
spowers@zerotothree.org
®
Foun ded i n 1980
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Contents
September 2008 Volume 29 No.1
Language, Culture, and Learning
4
TALK TO ME, BABY! Supporting Language Development
in the First 3 Years B e t t y B a r dig e a n d M . Ko r i B a r dig e
11
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND
CULTURE We n dy Jon e s a n d Is a b e l l a L o r e n z o - Hu b e rt
17 EARLY DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNING
Fred Genesee
24 THE CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS AND DUAL
LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROJECT P i l a r Fo rt a n d
Ro b e rt St e c h u k
A ls o i n t h is Is su e :
29 INFANTS TAKE SELF-REGULATION INTO THEIR
OWN HANDS— C l a i r e Va l lo t t on
Depa rt m ents
2
This Issue and Why it Matters—St e fa n i e Pow e r s
16 Errata
35 In Memoriam: Julius B. Richmond—J . Ron a l d L a l ly
36 Everyday Ways to Support Your Baby’s and Toddler’s
Early Learning—Handouts for Parents in English and Spanish
38 Ask the Expert—B a r ry Zuc k e r m a n
39 Jargon Buster—A G l o s s a ry o f S e l e ct e d T e r ms
Cover photo: ©iStockphoto.com/Rohit Seth
www.zerotothree.org/journal
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