Lexical Diversity and Language Development


Book Description

Vocabulary richness, including lexical diversity and use of rare words, has an important role in assessing proficiency, diagnosing progress and testing theory in the study of language development. This book first reviews different methods for quantifying how vocabulary is deployed in spontaneous speech and writing, and then introduces an alternative approach which can assess overall lexical diversity, measure morphology development and compare the development of different word classes. The new approach is illustrated by its application to first and second language learners.




Lexical Diversity and Language Development


Book Description

Vocabulary richness, including lexical diversity and use of rare words, has an important role in assessing proficiency, diagnosing progress and testing theory in the study of language development. This book reviews different methods for quantifying how vocabulary is deployed in spontaneous speech and writing, before introducing an alternative approach which can assess overall lexical diversity, measure morphology development and compare the development of different word classes. The new approach is illustrated by its application to first and second language learners.




Vocabulary Knowledge


Book Description

Language researchers and practitioners often adopt tools and techniques without testing whether they really work as they should. This is understandable because most scholars do not have the time or expertise to properly evaluate the usefulness of all instruments, measures, and methods they need. It is therefore critical to have problem solvers in the field who gain the necessary expertise and take the time to scrutinize existing methods, identify problems, and offer new solutions. This volume represents the work of scholars who have done this; it is a collection of the latest advances, developments, and innovations regarding the modeling and measurement of learners’ vocabulary growth curves, current levels of vocabulary knowledge and lexical proficiency, and the patterns of lexical diversity found in their language production. Several of the contributors also address the complex but important relationship between automated indices and human judgments of learners’ lexical patterns and abilities.




Bilingualism Across the Lifespan


Book Description

This book pioneers the study of bilingualism across the lifespan and in all its diverse forms. In framing the newest research within a lifespan perspective, the editors highlight the importance of considering an individual's age in researching how bilingualism affects language acquisition and cognitive development. A key theme is the variability among bilinguals, which may be due to a host of individual and sociocultural factors, including the degree to which bilingualism is valued within a particular context.Thus, this book is a call for language researchers, psychologists, and educators to pursue a better understanding of bilingualism in our increasingly global society.




Language Dominance in Bilinguals


Book Description

With contributions from an international team of leading experts, this volume offers new ways to explore and measure language dominance.




Current Perspectives on Child Language Acquisition


Book Description

In recent years the field has seen an increasing realisation that the full complexity of language acquisition demands theories that (a) explain how children integrate information from multiple sources in the environment, (b) build linguistic representations at a number of different levels, and (c) learn how to combine these representations in order to communicate effectively. These new findings have stimulated new theoretical perspectives that are more centered on explaining learning as a complex dynamic interaction between the child and her environment. This book is the first attempt to bring some of these new perspectives together in one place. It is a collection of essays written by a group of researchers who all take an approach centered on child-environment interaction, and all of whom have been influenced by the work of Elena Lieven, to whom this collection is dedicated.




Transfer Effects in Multilingual Language Development


Book Description

This volume, dedicated to language transfer, starts out with state-of-the-art psycholinguistic approaches to language transfer involving studies on psycho-typological transfer, lexical interference and foreign accent. The next chapter on Transfer in Language Learning, Contact, and Change presents new empirical data from several languages (English, German, Russian, French, Italian) on various transfer phenomena ranging from second language acquisition and contact-induced change in word order to cross-linguistic influences in word formation and the lexicon. Transfer in Applied Linguistics scrutinizes, on the one hand, the external sources of language transfer by investigating bilingual resources and the school context, but also by pointing out the differences in academic language in multilingual adolescents. On the other hand, internal sources of language transfer in multilingual classrooms are illuminated. A final chapter directs its focus on methodological issues that arise when more than one language is studied systematically and it offers a solution on causal effects for the investigation of heritage language proficiencies. The chapter also includes studies that exploit more innovative methodologies on L1 identification and clitic acquisition.




First Language Attrition


Book Description

This volume consists of a collection of papers that focus on structural/grammatical aspects of the process of first language attrition. It presents an overview of current research, methodological issues and important questions regarding first language attrition. In particular, it addresses the two most prominent issues in current L1 attrition research: Can attrition effects impact on features of core syntax, or are they limited to interface phenomena?, and; What is the role of age at onset (pre-/post-puberty) in this regard? By investigating attrition in a variety of settings, from a case study of a Spanish-speaking adoptee in the US to an empirical investigation of more than 50 long-term attriters of Turkish in the Netherlands, the investigations presented take a new perspective on these issues. Originally published in Language, Interaction and Acquisition - Langage, Interaction et Acquisition 2:2 (2011).




Language Diversity, School Learning, and Closing Achievement Gaps


Book Description

The Workshop on the Role of Language in School Learning: Implications for Closing the Achievement Gap was held to explore three questions: What is known about the conditions that affect language development? What are the effects of early language development on school achievement? What instructional approaches help students meet school demands for language and reading comprehension? Of particular interest was the degree to which group differences in school achievement might be attributed to language differences, and whether language-related instruction might help to close gaps in achievement by helping students cope with language-intensive subject matter especially after the 3rd grade. The workshop provided a forum for researchers and practitioners to review and discuss relevant research findings from varied perspectives. The disciplines and professions represented included: language development, child development, cognitive psychology, linguistics, reading, educationally disadvantaged student populations, literacy in content areas (math, science, social studies), and teacher education. The aim of the meeting was not to reach consensus or provide recommendations, but rather to offer expert insight into the issues that surround the study of language, academic learning, and achievement gaps, and to gather varied viewpoints on what available research findings might imply for future research and practice. This book summarizes and synthesizes two days of workshop presentations and discussion.




Language Acquisition Across Linguistic and Cognitive Systems


Book Description

How and why do all children learn language? Why do some have difficulties while others are early language learners? What are the consequences of early bilingualism? Is it possible to reach native-like competence in a foreign language? Although we still cannot fully answer these questions, research during the last two decades has begun to solve some pieces of the puzzle. This book proposes an interdisciplinary collection of writings from some of the best specialists across several fields in cognitive science, offering a wide sample of recent advances in the study of first language acquisition, bilingualism, second language acquisition, and disorders of oral language. It is addressed to all researchers and students interested in language acquisition, as well as to teachers, clinicians and parents, who will find therein many new findings and varied methodological approaches, as well as challenging questions that are still debated and in need of further research.