The Social World of Children Learning to Talk [Paperback]

Betty Hart (Author), Todd R. Risley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 1999 | ISBN-10: 155766420X | ISBN-13: 978-1557664204 | Edition: 1

Based on unparalled data from 2-1/2 years of observing the everyday interactions of 1- and 2-year-old children learning to talk in their own homes, Hart and Risley have charted the month-by-month growth of the children's vocabulary, utterances, and use of grammatical structures. The compelling narrative highlights reliability-tested research findings and is supplemented with numerous transcripts from observations and a list of 2,000 words of children's expressive vocabulary from 19-36 months of age. This book is must-reading for professionals in speech and language, child development, psychology, and education who need to understand how children come to talk as much and as well as their parents and caregivers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

... extremely informative book on the language development of very young children. -- Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

There is much to be learned from this volume and much more to be done as a result of what Hart and Risley have learned... -- JASH

the authors have provided elaborate appendices with 80 pages of supporting information... --Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

About the Author

Betty Hart, Ph.D., and Todd R. Risley, Ph.D., began their careers in the early 1960s at the Institute for Child Development at the University of Washington, where they participated in the original demonstrations of the power of learning principles in influencing young children. With Montrose Wolf they introduced the basic procedures of adult attention and time-out now routinely taught and usaed in teaching and parenting. They also introduced the procedures for shaping speech and language widely used in special education.

In 1965, Hart and Risley began 30 years of collaborative work at The Universityof Kansas, when they established preschool intervention programs in poverty neighborhoods in Inasas City. Their study of what children actually do and say in day care and preschool and their publications on incidental teaching form the empirical base for contemporary child-centered teaching practices in preschool and special education.

Dr. Hart is now Professor Emeritus of Human Development at The University of Kansas, and Dr. Risley is Professor of Psychology at the Universityof Alaska. Both are Senior Scientists at the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies at The University of Kansas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 299 pages
• Publisher: Paul H Brookes Pub Co; 1 edition (May 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155766420X
• ISBN-13: 978-1557664204
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expanding on Meaningful Differences, April 14, 2007

By 

Reginald Williams (Orangeburg, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Social World of Children Learning to Talk (Paperback)

I prefer not to spoil it for you, but Hart and Risley continue what they started by delving more deeply in langauge differences between SES homes by investigating the cultural differences in familial routines and how they construct meaning in those contexts.

In the end, they strengthen even further the asking of two key questions: Do low SES families hamper their children's ability to succeed because of the lack of meaningful conversation in the home? Is early childhood education deliberately structured to meet the needs of a child socialized in a context that promotes one meaning of what literacy and communication is?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading, January 18, 2007

By 

Richard F Pickup (Alanvale, TAS Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Social World of Children Learning to Talk (Paperback)

This is essential reading for any one interested in why children perform so differently in literacy. Seminal work

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, July 29, 2007

By 

E Max (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Social World of Children Learning to Talk (Paperback)

This was a great book. It is based on research done by Hart and Risley on how children learn to talk. It was required for an Early Childhood Graduate Course. I purchased it here on Amazon at a very reasonable offer. The service was impeccable and it was shipped right away. Great overall! I'm glad I purchased the book.