The goal of this multidisciplinary presentation of issues concerning children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is to address the question: How can a child’s linguistic environment be restructured such that children at risk will succeed in the development of important adaptive skills in the areas of self-care, social interaction, and problemsolving? Since the variety of language profiles in SLI children is high, a better understanding of the nature of SLI is necessary.

The editors, Ludo Verhoeven and Hans van Balkom, have collected contributions from an international group of scholars. The volume focuses on the classification of subtypes in developmental disorders, noting etiology, typology, and clinical considerations. In Part I, a wide range of theoretical positions are reviewed. In Part II, competing hypotheses are tested in the domains of auditory perception, speech output, lexicon, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics. Finally, Part III overviews the clinical implications of recent research results, suggesting how new insights into developmental language disorders can be translated into guidelines for assessment and remediation.

Classification of Developmental Language Disorders: Theoretical Issues is an essential volume for any scholar or professional with an interest in children with SLI. The book also will introduce the classification of SLI to both undergraduate and graduate students in the field of developmental language disorders, providing a bridge between theoretical and practical issues.