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Born to Talk: An Introduction to Speech and Language Development, 7th edition

Published by Pearson (February 8, 2018) © 2019

  • Kathleen R. Fahey
  • Lloyd M. Hulit
  • Merle Howard

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For students and practitioners in speech-language pathology, early childhood education, general education, special education, and related disciplines.

Views speech and language development from childhood to adulthood

With its primary focus on language development, Born to Talk is a comprehensive, contemporary, reader-friendly view of language development. It encompasses new and exciting contributions to the information about human language acquisition, and examines the complex array of topics that provide the foundation for human communication and its development from birth through young adulthood. The 7th Edition includes a new chapter and appendices on language sampling, making it particularly useful for students and practitioners in speech-language pathology.

Hallmark features of this title

  • A reader-friendly style with illustrative summary charts and tables presents contemporary topics. Examples include:
    • How language is a unique human experience and how messages are transmitted from one human brain to another (Ch. 1)
    • The impressive nature and nurture of human communication, including the many perspectives involved in learning language (Ch. 2)
    • How the development of cognition and perception is related to language learning (Ch. 3)
    • The journey each child takes in developing the various components of language through a stage model (Chs. 4-6)
    • How language is learned and transmitted from one person to another by speech production (Ch. 7)

New and updated features of this title

  • NEW: Chapter 5, “Children Learning Language: Participating in Language Samples,” introduces the purposes of language sampling, methods of gathering the sample, and the analysis and interpretation of morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics within language samples.
  • NEW: Appendices A-E allow readers to see how practitioners gather, analyze and interpret language samples to determine the progress individual children make in language acquisition.
  • NEW: Learning Outcomes at the start of each chapter are aligned to chapter headings. Students gain a clear learning path and have the opportunity to assess their understanding in end-of-chapter reviews.
  1. A Connection of Brains
  2. Language Acquisition: A Theoretical Journey
  3. Cognitive Development: Building a Foundation for Language
  4. In the Beginning: Communication Development from Birth to 2 Years
  5. Children Learning Language: Participating in Language Sample
  6. The Saga Continues: Language Development Through the Preschool Years
  7. Taking Language from Home to School
  8. Development of Speech Sounds and Cultural Variations in Speech and Language Production
  9. Speech and Language Disorders in the Home, School, and Community
  10. The Anatomical and Physiological Bases of Speech, Language, and Hearing

About our authors

Kathleen R. Fahey, Ph.D. is professor emeritus at the University of Northern Colorado. She authored editions 5 (2011), 6 (2015), and 7 of Born to Talk: An Introduction to Speech and Language Development. Dr. Fahey co-authored Language Development, Differences, and Disorders: A Perspective for General and Special Education Teachers and Classroom-Based Speech-Language Pathologists in 2000, published by Pro-Ed. She taught undergraduate and graduate courses in speech-language pathology from 1993 to 2017 including normal language development, language disorders in young children, language disorders in school-age children, diagnostic procedures, phonological disorders and clinical intervention strategies. She was active in state associations focusing on recruitment and retention of professionals in the schools.

Lloyd M. Hulit, Ph.D. is professor emeritus at Illinois State University. He was senior author of the 1st edition (1993) through 6th edition (2015) of Born to Talk: An Introduction to Speech and Language Development. Dr. Hulit authored 3 textbooks on stuttering: Stuttering Therapy: A Guide to the Charles Von Riper Approach; Stuttering in Perspective; and Straight Talk on Stuttering. Dr. Hulit authored 14 journal articles and published papers. His passion was teaching in the areas of fluency disorders, phonological disorders and language development.

Merle R. Howard, Ph.D. was a respected colleague and beloved friend to Dr. Hulit. Dr. Howard passed away on July 8, 2013. They wrote the 1st edition of Born to Talk: An Introduction to Speech and Language Development, published in 1993, while they were colleagues at Illinois State University. Dr. Howard coauthored the 2nd through 5th editions (2011) of the text. Dr. Howard's teaching career spanned 35 years, focusing on neuropathology, language development and many other topics. He was also the director of the Speech and Hearing Clinic at the close of his career.

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