Grammaticalization and First Language Acquisition
Grammaticalization and First Language Acquisition

Author: Dominique Bassano

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2013-05-29

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 9027271895

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Grammaticalization and lexicalization are at the heart of first language acquisition. Understanding how these processes begin and evolve is a major challenge for current theories and has implications for applications in teaching or clinical contexts. This volume examines the relative weight of cognitive and linguistic determinants of acquisition with particular attention to two questions. The first one concerns the origins of grammar and the processes underlying its development. Is grammatical knowledge innate or constructed by the child? Is it modular or does it interact with other capacities? How can we account for continuity and discontinuity in development? What is the role of input? Second, considerable variation is observed in lexical and grammatical development across child languages. Is the process of acquisition similar in all children or do language-specific factors impact its rhythm and course? Do typological factors determine children’s reliance on lexical or grammatical means of expression in some domains? Originally published in Language, Interaction and Acquisition - Langage, Interaction et Acquisition 2:1 (2011).

The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization
The Oxford Handbook of Grammaticalization

Author: Heiko Narrog

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-10-13

Total Pages: 948

ISBN-13: 0199586780

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This book presents a critical assessment of research on grammaticalization, a central element in the process by which grammars are created. Leading scholars discuss its core theoretical and methodological bases, report on work in the field, and point to directions for new research. They represent every relevant theoretical perspective and approach.

Approaches to Grammaticalization
Approaches to Grammaticalization

Author: Elizabeth Closs Traugott

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1991-01-01

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 9027228957

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The study of grammaticalization raises a number of fundamental theoretical issues pertaining to the relation of langue and parole, creativity and automatic coding, synchrony and diachrony, categoriality and continua, typological characteristics and language-specific forms, etc., and therefore challenges some of the basic tenets of twentieth century linguistics.This two-volume work presents a number of diverse theoretical viewpoints on grammaticalization and gives insights into the genesis, development, and organization of grammatical categories in a number of language world-wide, with particular attention to morphosyntactic and semantic-pragmatic issues. The papers in Volume I are divided into two sections, the first concerned with general method, and the second with issues of directionality. Those in Volume II are divided into five sections: verbal structure, argument structure, subordination, modality, and multiple paths of grammaticalization.

Introducing Second Language Acquisition
Introducing Second Language Acquisition

Author: Muriel Saville-Troike

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-04-05

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1107010896

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A clear and practical introduction to second language acquisition, written for students encountering the topic for the first time.

Up and down the Cline – The Nature of Grammaticalization
Up and down the Cline – The Nature of Grammaticalization

Author: Olga Fischer

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2004-05-28

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 9027295476

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The basic idea behind this volume is to probe the nature of grammaticalization. Its contributions focus on the following questions: (i) In how far can grammaticalization be considered a universal diachronic process or mechanism of change and in how far is it conditioned by synchronic factors? (ii) What is the role of the speaker in grammaticalization? (iii) Does grammaticalization itself provide a cause for change or is it an epiphenomenon, i.e. a conglomeration of causal factors/mechanisms which elsewhere occur independently? (iv) If it is epiphenominal, how do we explain that similar pathways so often occur in known cases of grammaticalization? (v) Is grammaticalization unidirectional? (vi) What is the nature of the parameters guiding grammaticalization? The overall aim of the book is to enrich our understanding of what grammaticalization does or does not entail via detailed case studies in combination with theoretical and methodological discussions.

Constructing a Language
Constructing a Language

Author: Michael TOMASELLO

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-30

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 0674044398

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In this groundbreaking book, Tomasello presents a comprehensive usage-based theory of language acquisition. Drawing together a vast body of empirical research in cognitive science, linguistics, and developmental psychology, Tomasello demonstrates that we don't need a self-contained "language instinct" to explain how children learn language. Their linguistic ability is interwoven with other cognitive abilities.

Development of Nominal Inflection in First Language Acquisition
Development of Nominal Inflection in First Language Acquisition

Author: Ursula Stephany

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 3110188406

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The crosslinguistic studies of the early developmental stages of number, case, and gender in twelve typologically different languages with eight genetic affiliations follow a functional-constructivist approach. Some issues addressed are mean size of paradigms, percentage of base forms, and productivity. One of the main findings is that the typological characteristics of the language acquired influence the process of inflectional development.

Sources of Variation in First Language Acquisition
Sources of Variation in First Language Acquisition

Author: Maya Hickmann

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2018-02-22

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 9027265321

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Developmental research has long focused on regularities in language acquisition, minimizing factors that might be responsible for variation. Although researchers are now increasingly concerned with one or another of these factors, this volume brings together research on three different sources of variation: language-specific properties, the nature of the input to children across contexts, and several aspects of the learners themselves. Chapters explore these sources of variation within an interdisciplinary and comparative approach allying theories and methodologies stemming from linguistics, psycholinguistics, developmental psychology, and neuroscience. The comparative perspective involves different languages, contexts of use, types of learners (first/second language acquisition, monolingual/bilingual learners, autism, language impairment), as well as vocal and visuo-gestural communicative modalities (co-verbal gestures, sign language acquisition). The volume points to the need to enhance interdisciplinary research using complementary methodologies to further examine sources of variation and to integrate variation into a more general developmental theory.

Language Acquisition
Language Acquisition

Author: Susan Foster-Cohen

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2009-07-16

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 023024078X

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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.

Bilingual Language Acquisition
Bilingual Language Acquisition

Author: Carmen Silva-Corvalán

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-02-06

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 1107729211

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How do children develop bilingual competence? Do bilingual children develop language in the same way as monolinguals? Set in the context of findings on language development, this book examines the acquisition of English and Spanish by two brothers in the first six years of their lives. Based on in-depth and meticulous analyses of naturalistic data, it explores how the systems of both languages affect each other as the children develop, and how different levels of exposure to each language influence the nature of acquisition. The author demonstrates that the children's grammars and lexicons follow a developmental path similar to that of monolinguals, but that cross-linguistic interactions affecting lexical, semantic and discourse-pragmatic aspects arise in Spanish when exposure to it diminishes around the age of four. The first of its kind, this original study is a must-read for students and researchers in bilingualism, child development, language acquisition and language contact.