This course focuses primarily on the acquisition of speech and language by children including phonology, semantics, syntax, morphology, and pragmatics. Students enrolled in this course will investigate theories of language development and understand the theories in relation to the young child with or without exceptional needs. Students will be exposed to a comprehensive base of information in the areas of speech and language development that provide a strong foundation for general growth and development in the young child as it relates to sociocultural factors and emergent literacy skills. This course is restricted to students in the professional degree completion program.