Language Development Over The Lifespan

Language Development Over the Lifespan is a reference resource for those conducting research on language development and the aging process, and a supplementary textbook for courses in applied linguistics/bilingualism programs that focus on language attrition/aging and adult literacy development in second languages. It offers an integrative approach to language development that examines changes in language over a lifetime, organized by different theoretical perspectives, which are presented by well-known international scholars.

This book offers insights from a seven-year study into the impact of English as an International Language at a national level, from the effect of rich English input on a previously monolingual people’s linguistic repertoire to its effect on the situated language use demanded of speakers who find themselves in a new linguistic environment for which they have not been prepared. The changes described in the book have occurred in a speech community that identifies strongly with the local language, but finds itself increasingly having to use another language to perform daily functions in education and work. Findings describe how the official language and educational policies have not addressed this new linguistic ecology of Iceland. The findings of these studies have larger international practical, educational, empirical, and theoretical implications and should be relevant to anyone interested in in the impact of English as an International Language.

Language Development: The lifespan perspective generates insights into the central issues of age-dependent language change, focusing especially on the middle and later stages of life. The contributors exploit contemporary and historical longitudinal data, adopting psycholinguistic, corpus linguistic and sociolinguistic approaches. Linguistic changes are discussed against the background of cognitive, somatic and social factors. Bringing the resulting contributions together, the volume aims to resume the discussion of contradictions between the models of change and constancy over an individual’s lifespan that have not been sufficiently resolved to date. The volume is intended to serve as an interdisciplinary reference resource for those conducting research on language development and the aging process and as a supplementary course book on language variability and change.

This multidisciplinary volume offers insights on oral and written language development and how it takes place in literate societies. The volume covers topics from early to late language development, its interaction with literacy practices, including several languages, monolingual and multilingual contexts, different scripts, as well as typical and atypical development. Inspired by the work of Liliana Tolchinsky, a leading expert in language and literacy development, a group of internationally renowned scholars offers a state-of-the-art overview of current thinking in language development in literate societies in its broadest sense. Contributors offer a personal tribute to Liliana Tolchinsky in the opening section.

Language Development Over the Lifespan is a reference resource for those conducting research on language development and the aging process, and a supplementary textbook for courses in applied linguistics/bilingualism programs that focus on language attrition/aging and adult literacy development in second languages. It offers an integrative approach to language development that examines changes in language over a lifetime, organized by different theoretical perspectives, which are presented by well-known international scholars.

Through constant exposure to adult input in interaction, children’s language gradually develops into rich linguistic constructions containing multiple cross-modal elements subtly used together for communicative functions. Sensorimotor schemas provide the "grounding" of language in experience and lead to children’s access to the symbolic function. With the emergence of vocal or signed productions, gestures do not disappear but remain functional and diversify in form and function as children become skilled adult multimodal conversationalists. This volume examines the role of gesture over the human lifespan in its complex interaction with speech and sign. Gesture is explored in the different stages before, during, and after language has fully developed and a special focus is placed on the role of gesture in language learning and cognitive development. Specific chapters are devoted to the use of gesture in atypical populations. CONTENTS Contributors Aliyah Morgenstern and Susan Goldin-Meadow 1 Introduction to Gesture in Language Part I: An Emblematic Gesture: Pointing Kensy Cooperrider and Kate Mesh 2 Pointing in Gesture and Sign Aliyah Morgenstern 3 Early Pointing Gestures Part II: Gesture Before Speech Meredith L. Rowe, Ran Wei, and Virginia C. Salo 4 Early Gesture Predicts Later Language Development Olga Capirci, Maria Cristina Caselli, and Virginia Volterra 5 Interaction Among Modalities and Within Development Part III: Gesture With Speech During Language Learning Eve V. Clark and Barbara F. Kelly 6 Constructing a System of Communication With Gestures and Words Pauline Beaupoil-Hourdel 7 Embodying Language Complexity: Co-Speech Gestures Between Age 3 and 4 Casey Hall, Elizabeth Wakefield, and Susan Goldin-Meadow 8 Gesture Can Facilitate Children’s Learning and Generalization of Verbs Part IV: Gesture After Speech Is Mastered Jean-Marc Colletta 9 On the Codevelopment of Gesture and Monologic Discourse in Children Susan Wagner Cook 10 Understanding How Gestures Are Produced and Perceived Tilbe Göksun, Demet Özer, and Seda AkbIyık 11 Gesture in the Aging Brain Part V: Gesture With More Than One Language Elena Nicoladis and Lisa Smithson 12 Gesture in Bilingual Language Acquisition Marianne Gullberg 13 Bimodal Convergence: How Languages Interact in Multicompetent Language Users’ Speech and Gestures Gale Stam and Marion Tellier 14 Gesture Helps Second and Foreign Language Learning and Teaching Aliyah Morgenstern and Susan Goldin-Meadow Afterword: Gesture as Part of Language or Partner to Language Across the Lifespan Index About the Editors

This book pioneers the study of bilingualism across the lifespan and in all its diverse forms. In framing the newest research within a lifespan perspective, the editors highlight the importance of considering an individual's age in researching how bilingualism affects language acquisition and cognitive development. A key theme is the variability among bilinguals, which may be due to a host of individual and sociocultural factors, including the degree to which bilingualism is valued within a particular context.Thus, this book is a call for language researchers, psychologists, and educators to pursue a better understanding of bilingualism in our increasingly global society.