The concepts of Psycholinguistics
المؤلف:
John Field
المصدر:
Psycholinguistics
الجزء والصفحة:
P:xi
2025-07-21
366
The concepts of Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics is a domain with fuzzy boundaries; and there is some disagreement among those who teach it as to how widely they should set their sights. A broad view of the discipline might embrace all of the following:
a. Language processing: including the language skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening and the part played by memory in language.
b. Lexical storage and retrieval: how we store words in our minds and how we find them when we need them.
c. Language acquisition: how an infant acquires its first language.
d. Special circumstances: the effects upon language of (e.g.) deafness, blindness or being a twin; conditions such as dyslexia or aphasia (the loss of language after brain damage).
e. The brain and language: where language is located in the brain, how it evolved and whether it is a faculty that is unique to human beings.
f. Second language acquisition and use.
Many courses in Psycholinguistics choose to omit f. The study of Second Language Acquisition has developed independently, embraces sociological and pedagogical factors as well as cognitive ones; and employs a more eclectic range of research methods than Cognitive Psychology would normally accept. In addition, some courses prefer to omit c, for the very different reason that it is a large area of study in its own right. In some institutions, courses in Child Language or Language Acquisition are taught separately from those in ‘Psycho linguistics’ (i.e. language processing).
It was thus by no means a foregone conclusion which concepts were to be included in this volume. However, most introductory courses in Psycholinguistics pay some heed to first language acquisition as well as to language performance. Furthermore, the two areas are closely linked, with findings from the former inevitably influencing our understanding of the latter. It therefore seemed sensible to ensure that all of areas a to e above were adequately covered. The same coverage has not been extended to Second Language Acquisition, where entries are restricted to those notions which have clear links to mainstream psycholinguistic theory.
Strenuous attempts have been made to ensure that the range of concepts featured is as comprehensive as possible. An initial selection drew upon the author’s own experience of teaching Psycholinguistics to those who were new to the subject. It was expanded by taking account of less central areas, cross-checking with glossaries in standard handbooks and recalling areas that the author found problematic when himself a student. However, any reference work such as this can never satisfy everyone. There will inevitably be complaints that some issues have been overlooked and reservations about others that have been featured. Since the whole purpose of the book is to plug gaps in knowledge, the author would be very grateful for any feedback that the reader cares to provide. Suggestions and comments from those who teach the subject would be especially welcome.
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