Language Acquisition

Headline:

An up-to-date introduction to language acquisition for advanced undergraduates and new graduate students in linguistics and cognitive science

Blurb:
Helen Goodluck adopts Chomskyan generative grammar as a framework to guide students through the growth of language in typically developing children. She presents competing viewpoints and introduces the central controversies in the field in order to give students an opportunity to evaluate and reflect on these in relation to the examples and data presented. Summary boxes, exercises, discussion questions, an appendix of research techniques and suggestions for further reading are included to encourage deeper understanding, generate reflective discussion and aid further study.

Taking into consideration recent developments and advances in the field, coverage includes the acquisition of phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics; the nature of innate knowledge and learning mechanisms; and new developments in performance mechanisms. Illustrated with examples from a wide variety of languages, this book presents an accessible and essential guide to first language acquisition.