This is an introductory level course. Student will be provided with an overview of communication development and the acquisition of language from birth through school age. Specifically, students will study the fundamental building blocks in developing language competence, including children's babbling, phonology, early, vocabulary, morphology, syntax, semantics, and discourse knowledge. Students will also study language development in special populations like children with hearing impairment, mental retardation, autism and specific language impairment (SLI).