Preterm children's early language development: Language-specific and domain-general child-related precursors.

In the dynamic and complex process of language development, some populations, like preterm-born children, are at risk of developing language delays. This review addresses possible language-specific (i.e., prosody, word recognition, gesture) and domain-general (i.e., motor, visual perception and attention, joint attention, EFs) child-related precursors to language development of preterm children in the first three years of life. We examine how each factor can contribute to the development of language in this population. We end our review by providing suggestions for future theoretical frameworks and empirical research.