Researchers have long known that multiple-birth children are predisposed toward language impairment and delay. Proposed explanations include the frequentlow birth weight of multiplebirth children, unspecified genetic factors, and differences in the linguistic environment that seem to correlate with language impairment. In the curren t study, the linguistic environment of a set of triplets was compared to that of their singleton cousin through analysis of videotapes of family interaction. The

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... plets' linguistic environment seemed to be very similar to that of the singleton (at2;3.14, 2;4.25 and 2;7.25). Further, the triplets' MLUs had reached the normal range for their age by the time of the last taping (4;4.7). The results support contentions that linguistic environment is paramount in determining language development in multiple-birth children.