Examples of overgeneralization
Overgeneralization is a frequent phenomenon in language development. It can be found not only in syntactic usage but also in word meanings. moons: all round objects cars: all vehicles dogs: all four-legged animals
processing mechanisms. Psycholinguistics deals with the mental processes a person uses in producing and understanding language. It is concerned with the relationship between language and the human mind, for example, how word, sentence, and discourse meaning are represented and computed in the mind.
• Language acquisition refers to the learning and development of a person’s language. The learning of a native or first language is called first language acquisition, and the learning of a second or foreign language is called second language acquisition.
Two basic notions in first language acquisition
• Overgeneralization/Overextension(the extension of a rule beyond its proper limits) • Undergeneralization/Underextension(a child uses a word in a more limited way than adults do )
9.2 Language Acquisition
• Psycholinguistics is interested in the acquisition of language: how children acquire their mother tongue. • The study of the acquisition of language by children is often called developmental psycholinguistics.
Two possible directions of study in psycholinguistics
• Language as a way of explaining psycholinguistic theories and processes: language influences memory, perception, attention and learning. • The effects of psychological constraints on the use of language: how memory limitations affect language production and comprehension.
The scope of psycholinguistics
• At its heart, psycholinguistic work consists of two questions. – What knowledge of language is needed for us to use language? – What processes are involved in the use of language?
The “knowledge” question • Four broad areas of language knowledge:
Semantics deals with the meanings of sentences and words. Syntax involves the grammatical arrangement of words within the sentence. Phonology concerns the system of sounds in a language. Pragmatics entails the social rules involved in language use.
• The scope of psycholinguistics • The common aim of psycholinguists is to find out the structures and processes which underline a human’s ability to speak and understand language. • Psycholinguists are not necessarily interested in language interaction between people. They are trying above all to probe into what is happening within the individual.
The “process” question
•What cognitive processes are involved in the ordinary use of language?
– “ordinary use of language”: e.g. understanding a lecture, reading a book, writing a letter, and holding a conversation, etc. – “cognitive processes”: processes like perception, memory and thinking. • Although we do few things as often or as easily as speaking and listening, we will find that considerable cognitive processing is going on during those activities.
9.1 Introduction
* As the name suggests, it is a subject which links psychology and linguistics. • Psycholinguistics is interdisciplinary in nature and is studied by people in a variety of fields, such as psychology, cognitive science, and linguistics. It is an area of study which draws insights from linguistics and psychology and focuses upon the comprehension and production of language.
Questions
• What is psycholinguistics? • What are the main topics of psycholinguistics?
QБайду номын сангаасestion 1
• What is psycholinguistics?
9.1 Introduction
• * Psycholinguistics is the study of the language
Question 2
• What are the main topics of psycholinguistics?
Topics to be covered include…
• General issues of psycholinguistics: • language acquisition (how human beings learn language) • language production (how we create and express meaning through language) • language comprehension (how we perceive and understand speech and written language) • The relationship between language and thought
• The psycholinguist Steven Pinker makes a strong case for considering the elements of linguistic knowledge to be innate. This is consistent with the Chomskyan concept of universal grammar: the idea that there is a common underlying structure to every language, the knowledge of which we are born with.
Chapter 9 Psycholinguistics
What do these activities have in common?