Functional Approaches to Language

Functional Approaches to Language

Author: Shannon Bischoff

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2013-10-29

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 3110285320

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Functionalism, as characterized by Allen, (2007:254) "holds that linguistic structures can only be understood and explained with reference to the semantic and communicative functions of language, whose primary function is to be a vehicle for social interaction among human beings." Since the 1970s, inspired by the work of Jespersen, Bolinger, Dik, Halliday, and Chafe, functionalism has been attached to a variety of movements and models making major contributions to linguistic theory and to various subfields within linguistics, such as syntax, discourse, language acquisition, cognitive linguistics, typology, and documentary linguistics. Further, functional approaches have had a major impact outside linguistics in fields such as psychology and education, both in terms of theory and application. The main goal of functionalist approaches is to clarify the dynamic relationship between form and function (Thompson 2003:53). Functionalist perspectives have gained more ground over the past decades with more linguists resorting to functional explanations to account for linguistic structure. The authors in this volume present the current state of functional approaches to linguistic inquiry expanding our knowledge of language and linguistics.


The New Psychology of Language

The New Psychology of Language

Author: Michael Tomasello

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2014-06-05

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 1317693515

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From the point of view of psychology and cognitive science, much of modern linguistics is too formal and mathematical to be of much use. The New Psychology of Language volumes broke new ground by introducing functional and cognitive approaches to language structure in terms already familiar to psychologists, thus defining the next era in the scientific study of language. The Classic Edition volumes re-introduce some of the most important cognitive and functional linguists working in the field. They include a new introduction by Michael Tomasello in which he reviews what has changed since the volumes first published and highlights the fundamental insights of the original authors. The New Psychology of Language volumes are a must-read for anyone interested in understanding how cognitive and functional linguistics has become the thriving perspective on the scientific study of language that it is today.


Vygotsky’s Psychology-Philosophy

Vygotsky’s Psychology-Philosophy

Author: Dorothy Robbins

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 146151293X

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This book is an introduction to Vygotsky and his theories of language and second language acquisition. Employing a dual framework of metatheory and metaphor, the author focuses on Vygotsky's cultural-historical perspective (contrasted with the sociocultural heritage more prevalent in the West) and its emphasis on history as change and thought as related to action. Included also is a comparison of Vygotskyan and Chomskyan theories of language and grammar.


An Introduction to Vygotsky

An Introduction to Vygotsky

Author: Harry Daniels

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2002-09-11

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1134795513

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First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.


System in Systemic Functional Linguistics

System in Systemic Functional Linguistics

Author: Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen

Publisher: Equinox Publishing (UK)

Published: 2023-03-15

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781781799017

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This book introduces the notion of system as the foundation of the systemic functional architecture of language.


Crosslinguistic Approaches to the Psychology of Language

Crosslinguistic Approaches to the Psychology of Language

Author: Jiansheng Guo

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2010-10-18

Total Pages: 617

ISBN-13: 1136873686

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Inspired by the pioneering work of Dan Slobin, this volume discusses language learning from a crosslinguistic perspective, integrates language specific factors in narrative skill, covers the major theoretical issues, and explores the relationship between language and cognition.


SAGE Directions in Educational Psychology

SAGE Directions in Educational Psychology

Author: Neil J Salkind

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2010-10-31

Total Pages: 2066

ISBN-13: 1446203301

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Educational psychology is a broad field characterized by the study of individuals in educational settings and how they develop and learn. It incorporates information from such sub-disciplines such as developmental psychology, human development across the life span, curriculum and instruction, motivation, and measurement and assessment. Neil Salkind has mined the rich and extensive backlist of SAGE education and psychology journals to pull together a collection of almost 100 articles to be the definitive research resource on education psychology. Section One: Human Growth and Development focuses on the processes involved in human growth and development including ages and stages of development, different theoretical perspectives and the role and effectiveness of early intervention among other topics. Section Two: Cognition, Learning and Instruction concentrates on the mechanisms, through which individuals learn and retain information. Section Three: Motivation explores why individuals seek out goals and what the mechanisms are that characterize this search as it relates to learning. Section Four: Measurement, Assessment and Statistics looks at the topics that are critical to understanding individual differences, the growth in the use of computers as assessment tools, qualitative and quantitative methods, statistical techniques and evaluation.


A Developmental-functionalist Approach To Child Language

A Developmental-functionalist Approach To Child Language

Author: Nancy Budwig

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2013-04-15

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1135806314

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Although there has been much empirical study within what has been referred to as "functional approaches to child language," there has yet to be a major attempt to compare and contrast such proposals. In addition, much of the work carried out within child language from a functionalist perspective has not been specific with regard to the nature of the approach adopted. In attempting to fill the gap, the author of this book begins with a comparison of various functionalist approaches. By concentrating on one domain -- agentivity and control -- Budwig develops a set of research questions based on an examination of findings stemming from linguistics, psycholinguistics, and developmental psychology, and also provides an in-depth discussion of related methodological issues. In the second part of the book, she traces the development of linguistic means to refer to oneself within a developmental-functionalist perspective. Individual case studies as well as group analyses of six children in the early phases of acquiring English grammar are provided. In the last part, Budwig examines the relationship between forms and functions in development with special attention to potential generalizations about the organization and reorganization of the children's linguistic systems.


Approaches to the Evolution of Language

Approaches to the Evolution of Language

Author: James R. Hurford

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1998-09-17

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9780521639644

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This is one of the first systematic attempts to bring language within the neo-Darwinian framework of modern evolutionary theory, without abandoning the vast gains in phonology and syntax achieved by formal linguistics over the past forty years. The contributors, linguists, psychologists, and paleoanthropologists, address such questions as: what is language as a category of behavior; is it an instrument of thought or of communication; what do individuals know when they know a language; what cognitive, perceptual, and motor capacities must they have to speak, hear, and understand a language? For the past two centuries, scientists have tended to see language function as largely concerned with the exchange of practical information. By contrast, this volume takes as its starting point the view of human intelligence as social, and of language as a device for forming alliances, in exploring the origins of the sound patterns and formal structures that characterize language.