Phonetic categories become language specific across the first months of life. However, at the onset of word learning there are tasks in which infants fail to utilize native language phonetic categories to drive word learning. In 2005, we advanced a framework to account for why infants can detect and use phonetic detail in some tasks but not in others (Werker & Curtin, 2005; see also Curtin & Werker, 2007). In this framework, PRIMIR (processing rich information from multidimensional, interactive representation), we argue that by their first birthday, infants have established language-specific phonetic category representations, but also encode and represent both sub-phonetic and indexical details of speech. Initial biases, developmental level, and task demands influence the level of detail infants use in any particular experimental situation.  On some occasions phonetic categories are accessed, but in other tasks they are not given priority. Recently, we have begun studying infants who are exposed to two native languages from birth (Werker & Byers-Heinlein, 2008). In the current paper, we will review recent work on speech perception and word learning in bilingual-learning infants. This will be followed by a discussion of how this research has lead to advances in, and changes to PRIMIR.

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