Fundamentals of Psycholinguistics

"Contains an astonishing amount of information about speech and language use, all presented so deftly that reading it is a pleasure." Janet Dean Fodor, Graduate Center, City University of New York

"The coverage of this textbook is exactly right for an introductory-level course. The thread on multilingualism is unique." Dana McDaniel, University of Southern Maine

"The authors have done a masterful job. An excellent introduction to the field!" Janet Nicol, University of Arizona

Introducing the fundamental issues in psycholinguistics, this book explores the amazing story of the unconscious processes that take place when humans use language. Spanning key topics including the biological foundations of language; acquisition of first and second languages in children and adults; the mental lexicon; and speech production, perception, and processing, this is a very welcome addition for those seeking a linguistically oriented yet balanced textbook.

Reflecting the experience and knowledge gained by the authors in their combined 40 years of teaching psycholinguistics, the book is structured as an engaging narrative: from an idea in the mind of a speaker to its comprehension in the mind of the hearer. It includes the very 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. Each chapter concludes with study questions, a review of the key concepts discussed, and further readings where appropriate. An appendix discussing experimental designs in psycholinguistics offers an excellent overview of work being done in the field, and prepares students for their own research.