LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE GROWTH OF GRAMMAR. Maria Teresa
Guasti. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002. Pp. xvi + 474. $55.00
cloth.
The interrelation between language acquisition and linguistic theory
has long been recognized as a fruitful area of research. Guasti
provides a detailed and comprehensive review of the major areas of the
development of a first language and its relation to linguistic theory.
The book consists of 11 chapters on the development of all areas of
grammar, with an obvious emphasis on syntax. Each chapter begins with
an overview of the theoretical tools necessary to understand the topic
of the chapter, followed by the empirical phenomena, and a discussion
that integrates the theory and the data.