Aspects of late language acquisition: school children's use and comprehension of prepositions

The study of late language development in normal children promises to reveal much about the residual obstacles to language mastery, and is therefore a central issue for developmental psycholinguists. Findings of a series of studies of schoolchildren's use and comprehension of common prepositions are reported. Particular attention is paid to the acquisition of between, but a variety of developments in the comprehension of in front of, behind, above, below, and near are also discussed. It is shown that the acquisition of prepositions is a protracted affair, continuing at least through the infant school years. Some theoretical and practical implications of the study of late language development are noted.