Interfaces In Language 2

By combining theoretical analysis and empirical investigation, this monograph investigates the status of interfaces in Minimalist linguistic theory, second language acquisition and native language attrition. Two major questions are currently under debate: (1) what exactly makes a linguistic phenomenon an ‘interface phenomenon’, and (2) what is the specific role that the interfaces play in explaining language loss and persistent problems in second language acquisition? Answers to these questions are provided by a theoretical examination of the role that economy and computational efficiency play in recent Minimalist models of the language faculty, as well as by evidence obtained in two empirical studies examining the acquisition and attrition of two interface phenomena: Spanish subject realization and word order variation. The result is a new definition of ‘interface phenomena’ which deemphasizes syntactic complexity and focuses on the effect of interface interpretive conditions on syntactic structure. This work also shows that representational deficits cannot be ruled out in the acquisition and attrition of interface structures.

This volume is an important contribution to the theoretical and empirical study of the interactions of grammatical components in Chinese and other languages. With contributions by Edward L. Keenan, Henk van Riemsdijk, Alain Rouveret, and scholars in Chinese Linguistics, this volume investigates the common structural properties that may be considered as possible candidates for UG. It addresses syntactic and semantic issues such as anaphora universals over non-isomorphic languages, the role that the forces of attraction and repulsion play in the grammar of natural languages, computational and semantic aspects of resumption, the dichotomy between inner and outer reflexive adverbials, system repairing strategies at interfaces, the v-copy construction in Chinese, the scope of disjunction, interactions between focus, negation and event quantification, null object constructions and VP-Ellipsis, child language acquisition of nominal structure, word order and referentiality as well as second language acquisition of interface properties in Chinese double NP constructions. This volume will be of interest to students and researchers of syntax, semantics, theoretical linguistics, and language acquisition, as well as scholars in Chinese linguistics.

This third volume of the Interfaces in Language series brings together a collection of papers which were presented at the University of Kent’s Interfaces in Language 3 conference of May 2011. In line with the conference’s title, applications which held true to the interface theme were invited, yet no restrictions were placed on the way in which ‘interface’ was interpreted. A range of talks were thus included, some of which conformed to established demarcations within the discipline, others of which flouted them entirely and unashamedly. All were welcome. The result was a heterogeneous set of talks, interspersed with and complemented by lively discussions, confirming that the interdisciplinary setting staged was a successful way of cultivating discussion between linguists who might otherwise not cross paths. The papers chosen for publication here include both diachronic and synchronic approaches to language, generative and non-generative frameworks, as well as typological and theory-driven perspectives. The result can only be described as an eclectic mix. We invite the reader to decide upon its success.

This book brings together a number of researchers and developers from industry and academia who report on their work. It is of interest to language designers and the creators of toolkits, UIMSs, and other user interface tools.

Cognitive mechanisms underlying linguistic communication do not only rely upon retrieval and processing of linguistic information; they also involve constant updating and organizing of this linguistic information in relation with other, more general, cognitive mechanisms. Some existing theoretical models assume such a tight interactive link between domain-general and domain-specific sources of information in the cognitive organization of the linguistic faculty and during language use. Domain-specific constraints may include, for example, grammatical as well as lexical and pragmatic knowledge. Domain-general constraints comprise processing limitations imposed by the cognitive mechanisms of memory, attention, learning, and social interaction. However, much of the existing research tends to focus on one or the other of the aforementioned areas, while integrative accounts are still rather sparse at present. Therefore, the aim of this Research Topic of Frontiers in Cognition is to bring together researchers who, with in their respective research fields and by using different methodologies, represent integrative approaches to the study of language. We invite submissions from a wide range of interrelated areas of research: cognitive architectures of language, aspects of language processing, linguistic development, bilingualism, language embodiment, neuropsychology of linguistic function, among others. We would like to solicit original research contributions discussing behavioral, neurophysiological, and computational evidence as well as papers on methodological and/or theoretical aspects of the interplay between linguistic and non-linguistic cognitive processes.

Second language acquisition (SLA) and language testing (LT) research have largely been viewed as distinct areas of inquiry in applied linguistics. This book provides a fresh look at areas of common interest to both SLA and LT research, and ways in which research in these two areas of applied linguistics can be fruitfully integrated.

This volume is a collection of papers presented at the 12th Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition Conference held at the University of Nantes, France, in 2015. Language acquisition, a field of inquiry that has witnessed continuous growth during the past four decades, is central to building a detailed understanding of the human amazing capacity to develop language. The papers gathered here reflect the current research in the field of first, second and heritage language acquisition, addressing a variety of topics in syntax, semantics, phonology and their interfaces, from a wide range of languages such as Tashlhiyt Berber, English, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, European Portuguese, Heritage Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Heritage Sign Language, and Yudja. This volume will thus serve as a valuable reference guide to all scholars interested in (first/second/bilingual) language acquisition, multilingualism, heritage languages, sign language, language pathology and impairment, and experimental research in linguistics.