LINGUIST List 15.992

Wed Mar 24 2004

Books: Language Acquisition: Hall, Waxman (Eds.)

Editor for this issue: Neil Salmond <neillinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. dgw, Weaving a Lexicon: Hall, Waxman (Eds.)

 


Title: Weaving a Lexicon
Series Title: Bradford Books 

Publication Year: 2004
Publisher:	MIT Press
		http://mitpress.mit.edu/ 

Book URL: http://mitpress.mit.edu/promotions/books/SP2004026208323X

Editor: D. Geoffrey Hall, University of British Columbia
Editor: Sandra R. Waxman, Northwestern University 

Paperback: ISBN: 026258249X, Pages: 672, Price: U.S. $ $38 

			
Abstract:

The studies in Weaving a Lexicon make a significant contribution to
the growing field of lexical acquisition by considering the
multidimensional way in which infants and children acquire the lexicon
of their native language. They examine the many strands of knowledge
and skill--including perceptual sensitivities, conceptual and semantic
constraints, and communicative intent--that children must weave
together in the process of word learning, and show the different mix
of these factors used at different developmental points. In
considering the many different factors at work, the contributors avoid
both the "either-or" approach, which singles out one strand to explain
word learning throughout childhood, and the "all-inclusive" approach,
which considers the melange of factors together. Their goal is to
discover precisely which strands of ability or understanding make
which contributions to acquisition at which points in infancy and
childhood.

The nineteen chapters are arranged in two broadly thematic
sections. The chapters in "Initial Acquisitions," focus on issues
involved in word learning during infancy, including how learners
represent the sound patterns of words, infants' use of action
knowledge to understand the meaning of words, and the links between
early word learning and conceptual organization. In "Later
Acquisitions," the chapters treat topics concerning the stages of
toddler and preschooler language acquisition, including part-of-speech
information in word learning, the proper-count distinction, and a
comparison of verb acquisition in English and Spanish. Because the
contributors present their work in the broader context of the
interconnection of different processes in lexical acquisition, the
chapters in Weaving a Lexicon should suggest new directions for
research in the field.

Contributors:
Nameera Akhtar, Dare A. Baldwin, Paul Bloom, Kyle E. Chambers, Barbara
A. Church, Catharine Echols, Anne R. Eisenberg, Christopher Fennell,
Cynthia Fisher, Susan A. Gelman, Dedre Gentner, Henry Gleitman, Lila
R. Gleitman, Susan Goldin-Meadow, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff,
D. Geoffrey Hall, Etsuko Haryu, Elizabeth A. Hennon, Kathy
Hirsh-Pasek, Jill M. Hohenstein, Mutsumi Imai, Vikram K. Jaswal,
Barbara Landau, Tracy A. Lavin, Jeffrey Lidz, Ellen Markman, C. Nathan
Marti, Mandy J. McGuire, Letitia R. Naigles, Laura L. Namy, Mark
A. Sabbagh, Megan Saylor, Jesse Snedeker, Sandra R. Waxman, Janet
F. Werker, Amanda L. Woodward.


Lingfield(s):	Language Acquisition
		
Written In:	English (Language Code: ENG) 


 See this book announcement on our website: 
 http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=9474.