Development or impairment?

Joanne Paradis’KeynoteArticle on bilingualism and specific language impairment (SLI) is an impressive overview of research in language acquisition and language impairment. Studying different populations is crucial both for theorizing about language acquisition mechanisms, and for practical purposes of diagnosing and supporting children with language problems. If the child is a second language (L2) learner it is assumed that the support should differ from the kind of language therapy given to children with language disorders.