The Role of Processing

Reviews the book, Language Processing and Language Acquisition edited by Lyn Frazier and Jill de Villiers (see record 1990-99031-000). In tracing children's literacy development, the authors give numerous examples of children's work as they move from the use of symbols to scribble writing to letters, words, and stories. The examples selected by the authors pinpoint the importance of what children do in everyday natural settings because in each of these examples, it is the sense of needing to communicate with others that is foremost. In addition, the authors cite excellent case study materials showing early literacy development in middleclass families, inner-city families, and in recent immigrant families. These studies clearly show that there are different patterns among these groups, but in all cases, it is the interaction with people that seems to make a difference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)