Theoretical Linguistics And Disordered Language

The rapid increase of interest in disordered speech and language among linguists over the past decade or so has resulted in many books of practical help to speech pathologists in terms of assessment and remediation. Little, however, has appeared to examine the theoretical implications of the interaction between these two fields. This book aims to fill this gap, by showing how speech pathology can inform linguistic theory and vice versa.

The rapid increase of interest in disordered speech and language among linguists over the past decade or so has resulted in many books of practical help to speech pathologists in terms of assessment and remediation. Little, however, has appeared to examine the theoretical implications of the interaction between these two fields. This book aims to fill this gap, by showing how speech pathology can inform linguistic theory and vice versa.

The chapters in this volume arise from presentations at a unique conference on typical and atypical language development held in Madison, USA in 2002. This joint meeting of the International Association for the Study of Child Language, and the Symposium for Research in Child Language Disorders brought together – for the first time in such large numbers – researchers from these two distinct but related fields. The week-long schedule of the conference allowed for an in-depth interrogation of their theoretical positions, methodologies and findings. In the contributions to this volume we have put together a carefully selected set of papers which from various perspectives explore the linkage between developmental theory and language impairment, and at the same time illustrate the effects of distinct conditions – hearing loss, autism, Down syndrome, Williams syndrome and specific language impairment – on the communication abilities of affected individuals. An introductory chapter, and a detailed summary which picks up recurring themes in the chapters, complete the volume.

This book covers different aspects of speech and language pathology and it offers a fairly comprehensive overview of the complexity and the emerging importance of the field, by identifying and re-examining, from different perspectives, a number of standard assumptions in clinical linguistics and in cognitive sciences. The papers encompass different issues in phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, discussed with respect to deafness, stuttering, child acquisition and impairments, SLI, William’s Syndrome deficit, fluent aphasia and agrammatism. The interdisciplinary complexity of the language/cognition interface is also explored by focusing on empirical data from different languages: Bantu, Catalan, Dutch, English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. The aim of this volume is to stress the growing importance of the theoretical and methodological linguistic tools developed in this area; to bring under scrutiny assumptions taken for granted in recent analyses, which may not be so obvious as they may seem; to investigate how even apparently minimal choices in the description of phenomena may affect the form and complexity of the language/cognition interface.

This unique, edited book bridges studies in language disorders and linguistic theory with timely contributions from leading scholars in language development. It presents an attempt to define Specific Language Impairment, relating it to children of normal and disordered language capabilities. The chapter presentations examine language development across a variety of populations of children, from those with Specific Language Impairment to second language learners. The contributors discuss criteria for the definition of SLI, compare and contrast SLI with profiles of children with other disorders and dialects, and offer a comprehensive look at the Whole Human Language, which ties together spoken and signed languages. Methodological concerns that affect the credibility and generalizability of the findings are discussed and controversies between opposing linguistic approaches to language acquisition are presented. The conceptual thread that gradually reveals itself as the chapters unfold is a theoretical issue of central importance to cognitive theory, as well as to our understanding of the biological correlates of language--it concerns the variability that linguistic competence can manifest in children under different biological conditions and life circumstances. Language Competence Across Populations: Toward a Definition of Specific Language Impairment is an essential volume for advanced students and scholars in linguistics and psychology who have an interest in language acquisition and language disorders, as well as for the clinical professionals dealing with children with language impairments.

The chapters in this volume arise from presentations at a unique conference on typical and atypical language development held in Madison, USA in 2002. This joint meeting of the International Association for the Study of Child Language, and the Symposium for Research in Child Language Disorders brought together – for the first time in such large numbers – researchers from these two distinct but related fields. The week-long schedule of the conference allowed for an in-depth interrogation of their theoretical positions, methodologies and findings. In the contributions to this volume we have put together a carefully selected set of papers which from various perspectives explore the linkage between developmental theory and language impairment, and at the same time illustrate the effects of distinct conditions – hearing loss, autism, Down syndrome, Williams syndrome and specific language impairment – on the communication abilities of affected individuals. An introductory chapter, and a detailed summary which picks up recurring themes in the chapters, complete the volume.

This book explores the relationship between language difference and disorder, with particular consideration of multidialectal L1 speakers learning English as an L2. It provides the reader with ready-to-use data on child L2 acquisition at the syntax-semantics interface, and offers both empirical and theoretical support for educational and clinical linguists in order to separate language differences from disorders. It provides researchers and students in applied and educational linguistics and speech-language pathology with a comprehensive understanding of L2 development in previously unidentified groups of bilingual-bidialectal children with different performance in the target language. Developmental linguists, applied linguists and speech-language pathologists will find accessible information on the role of L1 bidialectism in L2 acquisition, as well as valuable implications to language teaching and learning practices and speech-language pathology services in multilingual and multicultural contexts. This volume will be key reading for researchers interested in typical and atypical multilingual development and assessment in educational and clinical linguistics, cognitive sciences, and psychology. It will also appeal to both undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in conducting mixed-method research in language education, linguistics and health sciences.