Date: 17-Jun-2008 From: Shereen Muhyeddeen <s.muhyeddeenpalgrave.com> Subject: Lexical Diversity and Language Development: Malvern et al E-mail this message to a friend
Title: Lexical Diversity and Language Development
Subtitle: Quantification and Assessment
Published: 2008
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
http://www.palgrave.com
Author: David D Malvern
Author: Brian J Richards
Author: Ngoni Chipere
Author: Pilar Durán
Paperback: ISBN: 9781403902320 Pages: 272 Price: U.K. £ 19.99
Abstract:
Note: This is the paperback edition of a previously announced title.
New Edition
'David Malvern and his co-authors have developed a new and very promising approach to the study of lexical diversity and language development. Their statistical method is far more sophisticated than anything we have had in the past. This book will be of great interest to the developmental psycholinguistic community.' - Professor Jean Berko Gleason, Department of Psychology, Boston University
Various facets of vocabulary richness, including lexical diversity and use of rare words, have an important role in assessing first and second language proficiency, diagnosing progress and testing theories of language development. There are, however, considerable difficulties in quantifying these variables reliably. This book reviews and evaluates different methods of measuring how vocabulary is deployed in spontaneous speech and writing, before introducing alternative approaches which can assess overall lexical diversity, measure morphological development and compare the development of different word classes. These practical solutions are validated and illustrated by their application to a succession of data sets, including speech and writing, and first and second language. The book also contains a glossary that throws light on the confusing proliferation of measures used in language assessment, sample transcripts, and documentation for a new and more flexible version of the vocd software developed by the authors.
Linguistic Field(s):
Applied Linguistics
Morphology
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