The Phonological Foundations of Language Acquisition: Variations in Babbling and Early Lexical Productions in Children Learning One or More Languages

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to guest edit a Special Issue of the on-line journal Languages on the topic of early phonological acquisition, examining prelinguistic speech production and early lexical development. We are interested in all factors that impact early speech development including sensory and cognitive factors, the role of adult input, and cross-linguistic interactions. Our goal is to publish a collection of articles on phonological acquisition that reflects new research findings and the innovative technologies used to conduct this research.

Research on early vocal development reveals the acquisition of speech-like vocalizations called babble, and the subsequent integration of babble with early words produced during the second year of life. Meaningful words produced during the toddler period reveal the influence of the phonetics of prior babbling and the phonology of the language(s) being learned by the child. This research has employed instrumental descriptions of early vocal behaviors, experimental studies of speech perception and preferences, and careful description of the speech produced by children during the early years.

More recently new technologies are evolving to expand our understanding of the nature of early speech acquisition. These include devices for long-term recording of auditory and/or visual data. These recordings are described using instrumental and perceptual analyses of child speech as well as interactions between the child and the adult in the shaping of early speech behaviors. Another methodological advance is combining data from many laboratories on a single topic to yield valid effect sizes when comparing speech behaviors and language-learning processes across infants from different language and cultural backgrounds. Cross-linguistic comparisons of infant vocal behaviors and the variables that explain differences in infant speech production are a current focus. Simulations of infant speech development further our confidence in the research findings to date and lead to new hypotheses. Recent studies permit in-depth analyses of early infant speech and language development, with the following questions of interest:

1. How is early speech acquisition influenced by differences in the language(s) presented to the child?
2. What learning mechanisms explain common and unique patterns of speech production across infants?
3. Do infants have preferences for specific types of speech input?
4. Are there interactions between the child and the adult that influence early phonetic and phonological acquisition?
5. How does speech input from children influence early phonetic and phonological acquisition?
6. What is the relationship between babble and early word productions?
7. Do simulations of early phonetic and phonological acquisition support current theories of early speech development?
8. Do certain neurodevelopmental disorders impact the course of early speech and language acquisition?

We are happy to receive abstracts that describe development in single cases, groups from a single language, or comparisons of acquisition across several languages. Research participants that are developing typically as well as those that are developing atypically would be welcome. Abstracts that reflect the efficacy of new technologies in early speech research including simulations and comparisons across different sampling conditions will also be welcome.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors (susan.rvachew@mcgill.ca)) or to /Languages/ editorial office (languages@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

We look forward to receiving your abstracts and joining you in the development of an exciting issue on this important topic.

Tentative completion schedule:

• Deadline for initial abstract: 30 December 2025
• Notification of abstract acceptance: 31 December 2025
• Final manuscript deadline: 31 July 2026

Prof. Dr. Susan Rvachew
Dr. Margaret Kehoe
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.