Child Language seminar, City University London, 2-4 September 1999. Such imitation, however, requires that their brains can map speech sounds into speech articulations - even though the vocal apparatuses of children and adults differ greatly in shape and size. Here I outline a testable mechanism.
Motor goals vary in how imitable they are.
Interestingly these are also properties that characterise speech. This approach suggests that an overlooked cause of language impairment could be the failure to efficiently identify the goals in the speech of others. Thus this approach not only suggests directions for new research upon child language but novel avenues for remedial speech therapy. Speech motor coordination and control. Rizzolatti, G., L. Fadiga, V. Gallese, and L. Fogassi.