Language Acquisition

This book provides a snapshot of the field of language acquisition at the beginning of the 21st Century. It represents the multiplicity of approaches that characterize the field and provides a review of current topics and debates, as well as addressing some of the connections between sub-fields and possible future directions for research.

Language Acquisition: The Basics is an accessible introduction to the must-know issues in child language development. Covering key topics drawn from contemporary psychology, linguistics and neuroscience, readers are introduced to fundamental concepts, methods, controversies, and discoveries. It follows the remarkable journey children take; from becoming sensitive to language before birth, to the time they string their first words together; from when they use language playfully, to when they tell stories, hold conversations, and share complex ideas. Using examples from 73 different languages, Ibbotson sets this development in a diverse cross-cultural context, as well as describing the universal psychological foundations that allow language to happen. This book, which includes further reading suggestions in each chapter and a glossary of key terms, is the perfect easy-to-understand introductory text for students, teachers, clinicians or anyone with an interest in language development. Drawing together the latest research on typical, atypical and multilingual development, it is the concise beginner's guide to the field.

Taking an accessible and cross-linguistic approach, Understanding Child Language Acquisition introduces readers to the most important research on child language acquisition over the last fifty years, as well as to some of the most influential theories in the field. Rather than just describing what children can do at different ages Rowland explains why these research findings are important and what they tell us about how children acquire language. Key features include: Cross-linguistic analysis of how language acquisition differs between languages A chapter on how multilingual children acquire several languages at once Exercises to test comprehension Chapters organised around key questions that summarise the critical issues posed by researchers in the field, with summaries at the end Further reading suggestions to broaden understanding of the subject With its particular focus on outlining key similarities and differences across languages and what this cross-linguistic variation means for our ideas about language acquisition, Understanding Child Language Acquisition forms a comprehensive introduction to the subject for students of linguistics, psychology and speech and language therapy. Students and instructors will benefit from the comprehensive companion website that includes a students’ section featuring interactive comprehension exercises, extension activities, chapter recaps and answers to the exercises within the book. Material for instructors includes sample essay questions, answers to the extension activities for students and a Powerpoint including all the figures from the book. www.routledge.com/cw/rowland

In this volume, Eve V. Clark takes a comprehensive look at where and when children acquire a first language. All the major findings and debates are presented in a highly readable form.

This book is a thorough revision of the highly successful text first published in 1994. The authors retain the multidisciplinary approach that presents research from linguistics, sociology, psychology, and education, in a format designed for use in an introductory course for undergraduate or graduate students. The research is updated throughout and there are new sections and chapters in this second edition as well. New chapters cover child language acquisition (first and second), Universal Grammar, and instructed language learning; new sections address issues, such as what data analysis doesn't show, replication of research findings, interlanguage transfer (multilingual acquisition and transfer), the aspect hypothesis, general nativism, connectionist approaches, and implicit/explicit knowledge. Major updates include nonlanguage influences and the lexicon. The workbook, Second Language Learning Data Analysis, Second Edition, makes an ideal accompaniment to the text.

It can be done! You can successfully learn a new language if three conditions are met: 1. You live where the new language is spoken. 2. You are motivated to learn the new language. 3. You know how to proceed with language learning, step-by-step and day-by-day. This manual assumes that the first and second conditions are met. It is a simple guide planned to help you, the learner, proceed without boredom or frustration, through manageable steps, so that you can become proficient in your new language. The objective of this manual is to help guide you in your daily activities of language learning. - Preface.

This text is an up-to-date introduction to language acquisition, designed to meet the needs of advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students in linguistics and cognitive science. It is the first language acquisition text to be written from the perspective of recent theoretical linguistics, and uses Chomskyan generative grammar as a framework for description. Taking models and analyses from generative phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics, Professor Goodluck describes children's language acquisition using examples from a variety of languages. Further chapters take up central questions concerning cognitive mechanisms by which children process language and form rules, the nature of the input to the language learner, and the relation between language development and other aspects of cognitive development. The book is extensively illustrated with models and figures, and each chapter is followed by questions for discussion and suggestions for further reading. It also includes a full bibliography.