Language acquisition : the growth of grammar / Maria Teresa Guasti.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Guasti, Maria Teresa, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language acquisition.

Physical Description:

xx, 648 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2016]

Summary:

How do children begin to use language? How does knowledge of language emerge in early infancy, and how does it grow? This textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to knowledge acquisition, drawing on empirical evidence and linguistic theory. The theoretical framework used is the generative theory of Universal Grammar; students should have some familiarity with concepts in linguistic research. Aimed at upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, the book offers end-of-chapter summaries, key words, study questions, and exercises. This second edition has been thoroughly updated, with new content throughout. It has been reorganized according to the three main components of language acquisition. The computational components and the interfaces are covered in chapters on structure building in the verbal and nominal domains, movement-derived structure, and the relation between syntax and semantics and semantic and pragmatic. The sensory motor interface is treated in chapters on infants' perception of language and on the acquisition of words. The intentional-conceptual interface is discussed in chapters on the acquisition of words. This edition features additional cross-linguistic content, a new focus on brain imaging findings and the motor aspect of language, new material on Williams and Down Syndromes and dyslexia, and a new chapter on bilingualism, early second language acquisition, and bimodalism. Revisions reflect the burgeoning research in the field. New pedagogical features include chapter outlines, summaries of chapters, hypotheses, and linguistic milestones; methodological information; explanatory boxes; and suggestions for further reading. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Basic Concepts 1

Introduction 1

1.1 Reflections on the Course of Language Acquisition 2

1.2 The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition 9

1.3 Constructivist Models 10

1.4 Generativist Models 13

1.5 Critical or Sensitive Periods 22

1.6 The Architecture of the Language Faculty 25

Chapter 2 The Sensory-Motor Interface: First Steps into Language 29

Introduction 29

2.1 The Quest for the Native Language 30

2.2 Learning the Phonemic and Tone Contrasts of the Native Language 49

2.3 Infants' Speech Production 62

2.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 66

Chapter 3 The Sensory-Motor and Conceptual-Intentional Interfaces: Acquisition of the Lexicon 71

Introduction 71

3.1 Why Finding Words Is a Problem 72

3.2 Finding Structures 93

3.3 The Phonological Bootstrapping Model and Universal Grammar 97

3.4 Why Acquiring the Meaning of Words Is a Problem 101

3.5 Bootstrapping of Syntax 123

3.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks 129

Chapter 4 The Computational System: The Emergence of Syntax in the Verbal Domain 135

Introduction 135

4.1 Children's Abstract Knowledge of Word Order 136

4.2 The Structure of Early Clauses 140

4.3 Morphosyntactic Features in Children's Clauses 154

4.4 Subject Agreement as a Structure-Dependent Relation 163

4.5 Root Infinitives 168

4.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks 188

Chapter 5 The Computational System: The Emergence of Syntax in the Nominal Domain 195

Introduction 195

5.1 The Structure of Nominal Arguments 196

5.2 Early Null Subjects 207

5.3 Clitic Pronouns in Romance Languages 226

5.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 235

Chapter 6 The Computational System: A-Movement-Derived Structures 241

Introduction 241

6.1 Question Formation in Early Systems 242

6.2 The Subject/Object Asymmetry in Wh-Questions 256

6.3 Long-Distance Wh-Movement 275

6.4 Relative Clause Formation in Early Systems 287

6.5 The Subject/Object Asymmetry in Head-Initial Relative Clauses 307

6.6 Head-Final Relative Clauses as Evidence for Structure Dependency 316

6.7 Summary and Concluding Remarks 319

Chapter 7 The Computational System: A-Movement-Derived Structures 325

Introduction 325

7.1 Passive Constructions in Adult and Child Grammar 326

1.1 A Maturational Account of Early Passive Constructions 335

7.1 Abstract Knowledge of Passive 347

7.2 Summary and Concluding Remarks 357

Chapter 8 The Conceptual-Intentional Interface: Nominal and Pronominal Interpretation 361

Introduction 361

8.1 The Binding Theory 362

8.2 Principle A 375

8.3 Principle B 380

8.4 Principle C 394

8.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks 402

Chapter 9 The Conceptual-Intentional Interface: Quantification and Pragmatic Understanding 407

Introduction 407

9.1 Quantificational Structures in Child Language 408

9.2 Scalar Implicatures 436

9.3 A Core Property of Language: Downward Entailment 452

9.4 Structure Dependency and Interpretation 458

9.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks 462

Chapter 10 Language Acquisition in Pathological Conditions 467

Introduction 467

10.1 Discrepancy between Language and Other Cognitive Abilities: Specific Language Impairment 468

10.2 Language Problems in Children with Developmental Dyslexia 490

10.3 Language Problems in Children with Cognitive Disabilities: Williams Syndrome and Down Syndrome 492

10.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 503

Chapter 11 Bilingualism and Early L2 509

Introduction 509

11.1 Two Separate Systems from Birth 511

11.2 A Bilingual Is Not the Sum of Two Monolinguals 516

11.3 Early Second Language Acquisition 526

11.4 EL2 and SLI: How Can We Distinguish the Two Conditions? 531

11.5 Bimodal Acquisition 537

11.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks 540.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780262529389

0262529386

OCLC:

950004270