An Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Language Acquisition (Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics)

An Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Language Acquisition (Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics)



Book Description

Directed towards general introductory linguistics courses, as well as courses in language acquisition, this textbook introduces the fundamentals of syntax and semantics in generative grammar and applies them to the study of child language. Assuming no prior knowledge of linguistics, it represents the theory of Universal Grammar and shows how the theory has proved helpful in understanding the process of language acquisition. Edited by two of the foremost researchers in the field, the book benefits from their insight into conceptual issues, their understanding of experimentation, and their own pioneering research.

About the Author

Stephen Crain is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Maryland at College Park. He has written over sixty articles and is currently Associate Editor of two major journals in the field: Language Acquisition and Linguistics and Philosophy. Diane Lillo-Martin is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. She is the author of Language and Cognition: The View from Sign Language and Deafness (with Marschauk, Siple, Campbell, and Everhart, 1997) and Universal Grammar and American Sign Language: Setting the Null Argument Parameters, (1991).