This master's thesis focuses on the relationship between children's development of communicative competence and patterns of communication between children and their primary caregivers. An overview of major changes, since the 1950s, in the theoretical and empirical approaches to language development is presented in Chapter II. Within this overview, changes in researchers' understanding of the relationship between children's language development and their interaction with primary caregivers are summarized. Methodological issues which constrain the validity of some conclusions and generalizations concerning children's language are identified, illustrated, and discussed in Chapter III. In Chapter IV earlier research on the structural characteristics of the primary caregivers is reinterpreted in the light of more recent data on the functions and patterns of communicative strategies used by primary caregivers in conversations with their young children. Studies on the interaction between mothers and their mentally handicapped children are discussed in Chapter V. Included in the discussion are methodological issues specific to the research with mentally handicapped children. The concluding chapter of the thesis discusses implications for future research on the development of communicative competence and implications for language training programs for mentally handicapped children. (Author/MP)