Language Acquisition Processing And Bilingualism

Bringing together selected papers from the conference “The Romance Turn VII” held in Venice in October 2015, this volume focuses on a broad range of topics at the heart of the current debate on language acquisition, including clitic pronouns, left-dislocations, passives, relative clauses, and wh-questions. It explores these topics within a range of different acquisition settings, such as L1 and L2 acquisition, bilingualism, typical and atypical development. In addition to syntax, the volume covers other modules of grammar, namely, semantics, pragmatics, and phonology, and adds a perspective on language processing to current discussions on the acquisition of Romance languages. This book also includes contributions on atypical language acquisition in cases of deafness and on language intervention based on formal linguistics. It will appeal not only to scholars and students interested in the nature and processes behind first, second and bilingual language acquisition, and impaired language acquisition, but also to language educators and clinicians.

A collection of papers that explore bilingual children coping with two language systems.

This book offers a detailed account of the issues, models, and outcomes of research into the cognition of bilingualism. The first chapter identifies the most important characteristics of this research and its historical developments, before the main part of the book explores studies of four bilingual processing topics. The first of these is lexico-semantic representation and organization in bilinguals, which deals with how words and meanings are represented and connected in the bilingual mind. The second, cross-language priming, explores the bilingual lexicon by examining how exposure to words in one language may affect word recognition in another and leads to the discovery of an asymmetry in translation priming. The third topic is selective lexical access in bilinguals, which examines whether bilinguals can selectively activate one language while suppressing the other, while the fourth is code switching, focussing on language control and language regulation mechanisms in bilinguals. The book concludes with a chapter that reviews research in three areas beyond lexical processing: autobiographical memory, the representation and interaction of syntactic knowledge, and the consequences of bilingualism. The volume demonstrates the theoretical significance and real-world practical implications of research into bilingual language processing, and will be a valuable resource for seminars and courses from advanced undergraduate level upwards.

A great majority of people around the world know more than one language. So, how does knowing one language affect the learning and use of additional languages? The question of cross-language influences is the focus of this book. Do bilinguals hear, understand, and produce language and meaning differently because of the languages they speak? How well can theoretical and computational models of language processing and acquisition explain and predict bilingual use patterns and acquisition trajectories? What learner, language, and context characteristics influence bilingual comprehension and production? This book provides a state-of-the-art review and critique of research into cross-language influences in phonology, lexicon, and morphosyntax, and suggests directions for future research. The interdisciplinary nature of the book bridges the gap between research on bilingualism and second language acquisition. The book will be of interest to graduate students, teachers, and researchers in linguistics and second language acquisition, cognitive psychology, and language education.

The Psycholinguistics of Bilingualism presents a comprehensive introduction to the foundations of bilingualism, covering language processing, language acquisition, cognition and the bilingual brain. This thorough introduction to the psycholinguistics of bilingualism is accessible to non-specialists with little previous exposure to the field Introduces students to the methodological approaches currently employed in the field, including observation, experimentation, verbal and computational modelling, and brain imaging Examines spoken and written language processing, simultaneous and successive language acquisition, bilingual memory and cognitive effects, and neurolinguistic and neuro-computational models of the bilingual brain Written in an accessible style by two of the field’s leading researchers, together with contributions from internationally-renowned scholars Featuring chapter-by-chapter research questions, this is an essential resource for those seeking insights into the bilingual mind and our current knowledge of the cognitive basis of bilingualism

How does knowledge of a first or second language develop, and how is that knowledge used in real time comprehension and production of one or two languages? Language development and processing are the central topics that this book explores, initially in terms of first language(s) and then in terms of additional languages. Human growth and development necessarily involve the passage of time, implicating this orthogonal factor and leading to the observation that capacities may vary across the lifespan. Two theoretical frameworks have historically attributed explanations for knowledge and use of language, nature versus nurture approaches: the former credits biogenetic intrinsic characteristics, while the latter ascribes environmental extrinsic experiences as the causes of developmental change. The evidence examined throughout this book offers a more nuanced and complex view, eschewing dichotomy and favoring a hybrid approach that takes into account a range of internal and external influences.

This book focuses exclusively on child bilinguals or children exposed to a second language in various learning contexts. Through the presentation of research on how children learn the sound systems or lexicon in two languages and via different routes, the book aims to paint a comprehensive picture of child bilingualism and second language learning. In addition, the book features contributions focused on theoretical overviews and methodological approaches. Researchers from diverse disciplines such as linguistics, psychology, and speech-language pathology contributed to the book that thus represents an effort to integrate multiple views and perspectives. The book is useful for researchers, clinicians, and educators who work with children acquiring or learning a second language in different settings. It should also be of interest to university students studying bilingualism and/or second language acquisition or parents raising bilingual children.