Maya Hickmann, Children's discourse: Person, space and time across languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp.vii, 392. Hb $55.

This monograph explores the universality and variability of the language acquisition processes. Arguing that universal learning mechanisms, on the one hand, or innate capacities within specific domains, on the other, are incomplete as theoretical explanations, this book addresses two major questions regarding first language acquisition: What structural and functional factors determine the acquisition process? What are the universal and language-specific aspects of this process? (p. 1).