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Textbook
Fundamentals of PsycholinguisticsAugust 2010, ©2010, Wiley-Blackwell
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- Topics covered include the biological foundations of language; acquisition of first and second languages in children and adults; the mental lexicon; and speech production, perception, and processing
- Structured as an engaging narrative that takes the reader from an idea in the mind of a speaker to its comprehension in the mind of the hearer
- Reflects the latest empirical developments in psycholinguistics, and is illustrated throughout with examples from bilingual as well as monolingual language processing, second language acquisition, and sign languages
- Student-friendly features include chapter-by-chapter study questions and discussion summaries; the appendix offers an excellent overview of experimental designs in psycholinguistics, and prepares students for their own research
- Written by an internationally-regarded author team, drawing on forty years of experience in teaching psycholinguistics
List of Tables.
Prologue.
1. Beginning Concepts.
2. The Nature of Linguistic Competence.
3. The Biological Basis of Language.
4. The Acquisition of Language.
5. The Speaker: Producing Speech.
6. The Hearer: Speech Perception and Lexical Access.
7. The Hearer: Structural Processing.
8. Remembering Sentences, Processing Discourse, and Having Conversations.
Epilogue. Appendix: Experimental Designs in Psycholinguistics.
References.
Name Index.
Subject Index.
Helen Smith Cairnsis Professor Emerita at Queens College, City University of New York. She is affiliated with the CUNY Graduate Programs in Linguistics and in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Her research and scholarship are in the areas of adult sentence processing and first language acquisition in children.
- Exploring the fundamental issues in psycholinguistics, this is an ideal text for those seeking a linguistically-oriented yet balanced introduction to the study of language
- Topics covered include the biological foundations of language; acquisition of first and second languages in children and adults; the mental lexicon; and speech production, perception, and processing
- Structured as an engaging narrative that takes the reader from an idea in the mind of a speaker to its comprehension in the mind of the hearer
- Reflects the latest empirical developments in psycholinguistics, and is illustrated throughout with examples from bilingual as well as monolingual language processing, second language acquisition, and sign languages
- Student-friendly features include chapter-by-chapter study questions and discussion summaries; the appendix offers an excellent overview of experimental designs in psycholinguistics, and prepares students for their own research
- Written by an internationally-regarded author team, drawing on forty years of experience in teaching psycholinguistics
"The strengths of the book are many: its attention to monolingual and bilingual contexts, its clear explanation of methodology and its selection of key illustrated studies." (Times Higher Education Supplement, 4 November 2010)
"It is an ideal text for undergraduates taking a first course in the study of language." (Forbes.com, 2 November 2010)
"Fundamentals of Psycholinguistics contains an astonishing amount of information about speech and language use, all presented so deftly that reading is a pleasure."Janet Dean Fodor, Graduate Center, City University of New York
"Fernandez and Cairns expose the mysteries of the human language ability by weaving together the insights gained from fifty years of psycholinguistic research into a highly readable introductory text."
Lyn Frazier, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
"The coverage of this textbook is exactly right for an introductory-level course. It offers clear and up-to-date information in every area without overwhelming the reader. The thread on multilingualism is unique."
Dana McDaniel, University of Southern Maine
"The authors have done a masterful job of reviewing current and long-standing issues in Psycholinguistics in a balanced, engaging fashion. An excellent introduction to the field!"
Janet Nicol, University of Arizona
"What most shines through is the authors' great enthusiasm for elucidating the ideas that drive contemporary research in psycholinguistics. The wealth of their experience has produced a fresh, modern, and above all appealing introduction to this interdisciplinary field."
Dianne Bradley, Graduate Center, City University of New York



