Information Structure and the Dynamics of Language Acquisition
Information Structure and the Dynamics of Language Acquisition

Author: Christine Dimroth

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 9789027241375

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The papers in this volume focus on the impact of information structure on language acquisition, thereby taking different linguistic approaches into account. They start from an empirical point of view, and examine data from natural first and second language acquisition, which cover a wide range of varieties, from early learner language to native speaker production and from gesture to Creole prototypes. The central theme is the interplay between principles of information structure and linguistic structure and its impact on the functioning and development of the learner's system. The papers examine language-internal explanatory factors and in particular the communicative and structural forces that push and shape the acquisition process, and its outcome. On the theoretical level, the approach adopted appeals both to formal and communicative constraints on a learner s language in use. Two empirical domains provide a 'testing ground' for the respective weight of grammatical versus functional determinants in the acquisition process: (1) the expression of finiteness and scope relations at the utterance level and (2) the expression of anaphoric relations at the discourse level.

The Dynamics of Language Use
The Dynamics of Language Use

Author: Christopher S. Butler

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2005-09-22

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 9027294186

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This book brings together a collection of articles characterized by two main themes: the contrastive study of parallel phenomena in two or more languages, and an essentially functional approach in which language is regarded, first and foremost, as a rich and complex communication system, inextricably embedded in sociocultural and psychological contexts of use. The majority of the studies reported is empirical in nature, many making use of corpora or other textual materials in the language(s) under investigation. The book begins with an introductory section in which the editors provide surveys of the state of the art in both functional and contrastive linguistics. The other five sections of the volume are devoted to (i) a cognitive perspective on form and function, (ii) information structure, (iii) collocations and formulaic language, (iv) language learning, and (v) discourse and culture.

Theoretical Issues in Language Acquisition
Theoretical Issues in Language Acquisition

Author: Juergen Weissenborn

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2013-02-01

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1134746695

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In recent linguistic theory, there has been an explosion of detailed studies of language variation. This volume applies such recent analyses to the study of child language, developing new approaches to change and variation in child grammars and revealing both early knowledge in several areas of grammar and a period of extended development in others. Topics dealt with include question formation, "subjectless" sentences, object gaps, rules for missing subject interpretation, passive sentences, rules for pronoun interpretation and argument structure. Leading developmental linguists and psycholinguists show how linguistic theory can help define and inform a theory of the dynamics of language development and its biological basis, meeting the growing need for such studies in programs in linguistics, psychology, and cognitive science.

The Dynamics of Language Use
The Dynamics of Language Use

Author: Christopher Butler

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9789027253835

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This book brings together a collection of articles characterized by two main themes: the contrastive study of parallel phenomena in two or more languages, and an essentially functional approach in which language is regarded, first and foremost, as a rich and complex communication system, inextricably embedded in sociocultural and psychological contexts of use. The majority of the studies reported are empirical in nature, many making use of corpora or other textual materials in the language(s) under investigation. The book begins with an introductory section in which the editors provide surveys of the state of the art in both functional and contrastive linguistics. The other five sections of the volume are devoted to (i) a cognitive perspective on form and function, (ii) information structure, (iii) collocations and formulaic language, (iv) language learning, and (v) discourse and culture.

Dummy Auxiliaries in First and Second Language Acquisition
Dummy Auxiliaries in First and Second Language Acquisition

Author: Elma Blom

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2013-08-28

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 1614513473

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Dummy auxiliaries are seemingly superfluous words that appear in learner varieties across languages. This volume is an up-to-date overview of research on dummy auxiliaries with contributions covering English, Dutch, German, French, Cypriot-Greek, first and second language acquisition, and specific language impairment as well as dialectal variation.

Comparative Perspectives on Language Acquisition
Comparative Perspectives on Language Acquisition

Author: Marzena Watorek

Publisher: Multilingual Matters

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 625

ISBN-13: 1847696031

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This volume aims to provide a broad view of second language acquisition, from initial to final stages. It does this within a comparative perspective that addresses results concerning adult and child learners across a variety of source and target languages, in order to assess the relative weight of cognitive and typological determinants during language learning.

The Acquisition of French as a Second Language
The Acquisition of French as a Second Language

Author: Christina Lindqvist

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2014-05-15

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 9027270074

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Within the field of second language acquisition, interest in the acquisition of French as a second language has a long-standing tradition, especially in the European context. The aim of this book is to offer a synthesis of current research within this area. It contains contributions from different researchers in the field, including studies on the acquisition of grammar, formulaic language, lexis and pragmatic devices, and covering interlanguage development from beginner level up to very advanced, presumably near-native levels of proficiency. The learners in the studies reported in the volume represent different L1 backgrounds and age groups. The chapters shed light on current issues in research on second language acquisition from different theoretical perspectives, and contribute to a better understanding of L2 French and SLA in general. The volume should be of interest for students, teachers and researchers of L2 French and SLA. Originally published in Language, Interaction and Acquisition 3:1 (2012)

The New Handbook of Second Language Acquisition
The New Handbook of Second Language Acquisition

Author: William C. Ritchie

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 745

ISBN-13: 1848552408

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"The New Handbook of Second Language Acquisition" is a thoroughly revised, re-organized, and re-worked edition of Ritchie and Bhatia's 1996 handbook. The work is divided into six parts, each devoted to a different aspect of the study of SLA. Part I includes a recent history of methods used in SLA research and an overview of currently used methods. Part II contains chapters on Universal Grammar, emergentism, variationism, information-processing, sociocultural, and cognitive-linguistic. Part III is devoted to overviews of SLA research on lexicon, morphosyntax, phonology, pragmatics, sentence processing, and the distinction between implicit and explicit knowledge. Part IV examines neuropsycholgy of SLA, another on child SLA, and the effects of age on second language acquisition and use. Part V is concerned with the contribution of the linguistic environment to SLA, including work on acquisition in different environments, through the Internet, and by deaf learners. Finally, Part VI treats social factors in SLA, including research on acquisition in contact circumstances, on social identity in SLA, on individual differences in SLA, and on the final state of SLA, bilingualism.

Language Acquisition and the Functional Category System
Language Acquisition and the Functional Category System

Author: Peter Jordens

Publisher: ISSN

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783110216202

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Finiteness, as a concept of information structure, determines the perspective from which the present investigation has been carried out. The linguistic status of finiteness in learner languages changes as a function of language development. This accounts for the fact that at consecutive stages of acquisition finiteness is expressed differently. Finiteness, as it plays a role at different stages of development, serves thus as the anchoring point from which the dynamics of the process of language development both in L1 and L2 learners can be explained. The present study shows that in this process the auxiliary verb (heb/heeft) serves a crucial role due to its function as a topicalization device.

Gestures in Language Development
Gestures in Language Development

Author: Marianne Gullberg

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2010-12-15

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13: 9027287449

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Gestures are prevalent in communication and tightly linked to language and speech. As such they can shed important light on issues of language development across the lifespan. This volume, originally published as a Special Issue of Gesture Volume 8:2 (2008), brings together studies from different disciplines that examine language development in children and adults from varying perspectives. It provides a review of common theoretical and empirical themes, and the contributions address topics such as gesture use in prelinguistic infants, the relationship between gestures and lexical development in typically and atypically developing children and in second language learners, what gestures reveal about discourse, and how all languages that adult second language speakers know can influence each other. The papers exemplify a vibrant new field of study with relevance for multiple disciplines.