Language Acquisition and Conceptual Development

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511620669

Recent years have seen a revolution in our knowledge of how children learn to think and speak. In this volume, leading scholars from these rapidly evolving fields of research examine the relationship between child language acquisition and cognitive development. At first sight, advances in the two areas seem to have moved in opposing directions: the study of language acquisition has been especially concerned with diversity, explaining how children learn languages of widely different types, while the study of cognitive development has focused on uniformity, clarifying how children build on fundamental, presumably universal concepts. This book brings these two vital strands of investigation into close dialogue, suggesting a synthesis in which the process of language acquisition may interact with early cognitive development. It provides empirical contributions based on a variety of languages, populations and ages, and theoretical discussions that cut across the disciplines of psychology, linguistics and anthropology.

‘This thought-provoking book will challenge many existing preconceptions about the relationship between language and thought.’

Source: The Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi
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Contents
pp vii-x
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Preface
pp xi-xii
- By Melissa Bowerman, Stephen C. Levinson
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Introduction
pp 1-16
- By Melissa Bowerman, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Netherlands, Stephen C. Levinson, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Netherlands
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Part 1 - Foundational issues
pp 17-18
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1 - The mosaic evolution of cognitive and linguistic ontogeny
pp 19-44
- By Jonas Langer, University of California at Berkeley
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2 - Theories, language, and culture:Whorf without wincing
pp 45-69
- By Alison Gopnik, University of California at Berkeley
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3 - Initial knowledge and conceptual change: space and number
pp 70-98
- By Elizabeth S. Spelke, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sanna Tsivkin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Part 2 - Constraints on word learning?
pp 99-100
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4 - How domain-general processes may create domain-specific biases
pp 101-131
- By Linda B. Smith, Indiana University
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5 - Perceiving intentions and learning words in the second year of life
pp 132-158
- By Michael Tomasello, Emory University
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6 - Roots of word learning
pp 159-182
- By Paul Bloom, Yale University
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Part 3 - Entities, individuation, and quantification
pp 183-184
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7 - Whorf versus continuity theorists: bringing data to bear on the debate
pp 185-214
- By Susan Carey, New York University
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8 - Individuation, relativity, and early word learning
pp 215-256
- By Dedre Gentner, Northwestern University and Stanford University, Lera Boroditsky, Northwestern University and Stanford University
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9 - Grammatical categories and the development of classification preferences: a comparative approach
pp 257-283
- By John A. Lucy, University of Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University, Suzanne Gaskins, University of Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University
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10 - Person in the language of singletons, siblings, and twins
pp 284-315
- By Werner Deutsch, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Angela Wagner, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Renate Burchardt, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Nina Schulz, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Jörg Nakath, Technische Universität Braunschweig
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11 - Early representations for all, each, and their counterparts in Mandarin Chinese and Portuguese
pp 316-339
- By Patricia J. Brooks, College of Staten Island and the Graduate School of City University of New York, New York University, Lehman College of City University of New York, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Martin D. S. Braine, College of Staten Island and the Graduate School of City University of New York, New York University, Lehman College of City University of New York, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Gisela Jia, College of Staten Island and the Graduate School of City University of New York, New York University, Lehman College of City University of New York, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Maria da Graca Dias, College of Staten Island and the Graduate School of City University of New York, New York University, Lehman College of City University of New York, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
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12 - Children's weak interpretations of universally quantified questions
pp 340-376
- By Kenneth F. Drozd, Aarhus University, Denmark, and Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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Part 4 - Relational concepts in form–function mapping
pp 377-378
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13 - Emergent categories in first language acquisition
pp 379-405
- By Eve V. Clark, Stanford University
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14 - Form–function relations: how do children find out what they are?
pp 406-449
- By Dan I. Slobin, University of California at Berkeley
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15 - Cognitive–conceptual development and the acquisition of grammatical morphemes: the development of time concepts and verb tense
pp 450-474
- By Heike Behrens, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig (Germany)
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16 - Shaping meanings for language: universal and language-specific in the acquisition of spatial semantic categories
pp 475-511
- By Melissa Bowerman, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands and San Diego State University, Soonja Choi, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands and San Diego State University
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17 - Learning to talk about motion UP and DOWN in Tzeltal: is there a language-specific bias for verb learning?
pp 512-543
- By Penelope Brown, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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18 - Finding the richest path: language and cognition in the acquisition of verticality in Tzotzil (Mayan)
pp 544-565
- By Lourdes de León, CIESAS-Sureste (Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology), San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
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19 - Covariation between spatial language and cognition, and its implications for language learning
pp 566-588
- By Stephen C. Levinson, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Author index
pp 589-596
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Subject index
pp 597-602
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