Research into complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF) as basic dimensions of second language performance, proficiency and development has received increased attention in SLA. However, the larger picture in this field of research is often obscured by the breadth of scope, multiple objectives and lack of clarity as to how complexity, accuracy and fluency should be defined, operationalized and measured. The present volume showcases current research on CAF by bringing together eleven contributions from renowned international researchers in the field. These contributions not only add to the body of empirical knowledge about L2 use and L2 development by bringing new research findings to light but they also address fundamental theoretical and methodological issues by responding to questions about the nature, manifestation, development and assessment of CAF as multifaceted constructs. Collectively, the chapters in this book illustrate the converging and sometimes diverging approaches that different disciplines bring to CAF research.
Bachelor Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject American Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, http://www.uni-jena.de/ (Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: First Language Acquisition, language: English, abstract: “Language Acquisition represents, perhaps, the most impressive achievement in human development. This is all the more fascinating since this process is quite rapid, and the successive stages for the progressive acquisition of the native language follow a quite similar chronology across languages.” (Dominey et al. 2004: 122) What the linguist Peter Dominey here states describes people’s fascination about language, specifically language acquisition. Both are highly complex frameworks whose investigation, indeed, can be regarded as an inexhaustible enterprise. Nevertheless, research has been willing to face that challenge, and, over several decades, linguists have been trying to find out how exactly children acquire their native language. Children all over the world, regardless of language and culture, eventually acquire their mother tongue. However, the question how exactly children learn language has not been answered unanimously. One of the interesting observations in language is that adults change their speech while talking to children – a phenomenon referred to as Child-Directed Speech (CDS). Why does this adjustment take place? Changing one’s own speech in conversation with children seems to occur quite intuitively and can be observed in any situation of everyday life in which adults and children are involved. Due to the examination of cross-cultural issues in my minor bachelor studies and given my personal interest in other cultures, I attach high importance to the consideration of cultural differences when investigating children’s first language acquisition. Moreover, it not only seems to be highly interesting but also indispensable to link theoretical aspects with practical relevance and vice versa: Ongoing general discussions about upbringing and education have revealed the high social relevance of this subject. Thus, the aim of this paper is to examine the influence of CDS on children’s first language acquisition. This will be accomplished by linking theoretical linguistic theory with empirical findings from different fields of research.
The progression from newborn to sophisticated language user in just a few short years is often described as wonderful and miraculous. What are the biological, cognitive, and social underpinnings of this miracle? What major language development milestones occur in infancy? What methodologies do researchers employ in studying this progression? Why do some become adept at multiple languages while others face a lifelong struggle with just one? What accounts for declines in language proficiency, and how might such declines be moderated? Despite an abundance of textbooks, specialized monographs, and a couple of academic handbooks, there has been no encyclopedic reference work in this area--until now. The Encyclopedia of Language Development covers the breadth of theory and research on language development from birth through adulthood, as well as their practical application. Features: This affordable A-to-Z reference includes 200 articles that address such topic areas as theories and research tradition; biological perspectives; cognitive perspectives; family, peer, and social influences; bilingualism; special populations and disorders; and more. All articles (signed and authored by key figures in the field) conclude with cross reference links and suggestions for further reading. Appendices include a Resource Guide with annotated lists of classic books and articles, journals, associations, and web sites; a Glossary of specialized terms; and a Chronology offering an overview and history of the field. A thematic Reader’s Guide groups related articles by broad topic areas as one handy search feature on the e-Reference platform, which includes a comprehensive index of search terms. Available in both print and electronic formats, Encyclopedia of Language Development is a must-have reference for researchers and is ideal for library reference or circulating collections. Key Themes: Categories Effects of language on cognitive development Fundamentals, theories and models of language development Impairments of language development Language development in special populations Literacy and language development Mechanisms of language development Methods in language development research Prelinguistic communicative development Social effects in language acquisition Specific aspects of language development
Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.
The remarkable way in which young children acquire language has long fascinated linguists and developmental psychologists alike. Language is a skill that we have essentially mastered by the age of three, and with incredible ease and speed, despite the complexity of the task. This accessible textbook introduces the field of child language acquisition, exploring language development from birth. Setting out the key theoretical debates, it considers questions such as what characteristics of the human mind make it possible to acquire language; how far acquisition is biologically programmed and how far it is influenced by our environment; what makes second language learning (in adulthood) different from first language acquisition; and whether the specific stages in language development are universal across languages. Clear and comprehensive, it is set to become a key text for all courses in child language acquisition, within linguistics, developmental psychology and cognitive science.
The digital age is changing our children’s lives and childhood dramatically. New technologies transform the way people interact with each other, the way stories are shared and distributed, and the way reality is presented and perceived. Parents experience that toddlers can handle tablets and apps with a level of sophistication the children’s grandparents can only envy. The question of how the ecology of the child affects the acquisition of competencies and skills has been approached from different angles in different disciplines. In linguistics, psychology and neuroscience, the central question addressed concerns the specific role of exposure to language. Two influential types of theory have been proposed. On one view the capacity to learn language is hard-wired in the human brain: linguistic input is merely a trigger for language to develop. On an alternative view, language acquisition depends on the linguistic environment of the child, and specifically on language input provided through child-adult communication and interaction. The latter view further specifies that factors in situated interaction are crucial for language learning to take place. In the fields of information technology, artificial intelligence and robotics a current theme is to create robots that develop, as children do, and to establish how embodiment and interaction support language learning in these machines. In the field of human-machine interaction, research is investigating whether using a physical robot, rather than a virtual agent or a computer-based video, has a positive effect on language development. The Research Topic will address the following issues: - What are the methodological challenges faced by research on language acquisition in the digital age? - How should traditional theories and models of language acquisition be revised to account for the multimodal and multichannel nature of language learning in the digital age? - How should existing and future technologies be developed and transformed so as to be most beneficial for child language learning and cognition? - Can new technologies be tailored to support child growth, and most importantly, can they be designed in order to enhance specifically vulnerable children’s language learning environment and opportunities? - What kind of learning mechanisms are involved? - How can artificial intelligence and robotics technologies, as robot tutors, support language development? These questions and issues can only be addressed by means of an interdisciplinary approach that aims at developing new methods of data collection and analysis in cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives. We welcome contributions addressing these questions from an interdisciplinary perspective both theoretically and empirically.
Speech and language are central to the human experience; they are the vital means by which people convey and receive knowledge, thoughts, feelings, and other internal experiences. Acquisition of communication skills begins early in childhood and is foundational to the ability to gain access to culturally transmitted knowledge, organize and share thoughts and feelings, and participate in social interactions and relationships. Thus, speech disorders and language disorders-disruptions in communication development-can have wide-ranging and adverse impacts on the ability to communicate and also to acquire new knowledge and fully participate in society. Severe disruptions in speech or language acquisition have both direct and indirect consequences for child and adolescent development, not only in communication, but also in associated abilities such as reading and academic achievement that depend on speech and language skills. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for children provides financial assistance to children from low-income, resource-limited families who are determined to have conditions that meet the disability standard required under law. Between 2000 and 2010, there was an unprecedented rise in the number of applications and the number of children found to meet the disability criteria. The factors that contribute to these changes are a primary focus of this report. Speech and Language Disorders in Children provides an overview of the current status of the diagnosis and treatment of speech and language disorders and levels of impairment in the U.S. population under age 18. This study identifies past and current trends in the prevalence and persistence of speech disorders and language disorders for the general U.S. population under age 18 and compares those trends to trends in the SSI childhood disability population.
This book provides state-of-the-art coverage of research in laboratory phonology. Laboratory phonology denotes a research perspective, not a specific theory: it represents a broad community of scholars dedicated to bringing interdisciplinary experimental approaches and methods to bear on how spoken language is structured, learned and used; it draws on a wide range of tools and concepts from cognitive and natural sciences. This book describes the investigative approaches,disciplinary perspectives, and methods deployed in laboratory phonology, and highlights the most promising areas of current research.Part one introduces the history, nature, and aims of laboratory phonology. The remaining four parts cover central issues in research done within this perspective, as well as methodological resources used for investigating these issues. Contributions to this volume address how laboratory phonology approaches have provided insight into human speech and language structure and how theoretical questions and methodologies are intertwined. This Handbook, the first specifically dedicated tothe laboratory phonology approach, builds on the foundation of knowledge amassed in linguistics, speech research and allied disciplines. With the varied interdisciplinary contributions collected, the Handbook advances work in this vibrant field.
How do infants and young children coordinate information in real time to arrive at sentence meaning from the words and structure of the sentence and from the nonlinguistic context? This volume introduces readers to an emerging field of research, experimental developmental psycholinguistics, and to the four predominant methodologies used to study on-line language processing in children. Authored by key figures in psycholinguistics, neuroscience and developmental psychology, the chapters cover event-related brain potentials, free-viewing eyetracking, looking-while-listening, and reaction-time techniques, also providing a historical backdrop for this line of research. Multiple aspects of experimental design, data collection and data analysis are addressed in detail, alongside surveys of recent important findings about how infants and children process sounds, words, and sentences. Indispensable for students and researchers working in the areas of language acquisition, developmental psychology and developmental neuroscience of language, this volume will also appeal to speech language pathologists and early childhood educators.
First published in 1977, this book draws together various contributions on the area of speech used by parents with their children. Numerous perspectives on the topic include the comparison of baby talk with other simplified registers by linguists, the analysis of cross-cultural differences in mother and child interaction by anthropologists, and the relation of language development to differences in styles of childcare and the child's social environment in general by psychologists. The text had its origins in a conference sponsored by the Sociolinguistics Committee of the Social Science Research Council. It will be of value to anyone with an interest in language acquisition and development.
