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    Psycholinguistics - A Book Review

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    zila6350
    Book review on "Psycholinguistics : Psychology, Linguistics and the Study of Natural Language" by Joseph F. Kess (1992)

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    Psycholinguistics - A Book Review

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    zila6350
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    Book review on "Psycholinguistics : Psychology, Linguistics and the Study of Natural Language" by Joseph F. Kess (1992)

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    Book review on "Psycholinguistics : Psychology, Linguistics and the Study of Natural Language" by Joseph F. Kess (1992)

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    870 views2 pages

    Psycholinguistics - A Book Review

    Uploaded by

    zila6350
    Book review on "Psycholinguistics : Psychology, Linguistics and the Study of Natural Language" by Joseph F. Kess (1992)

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    A Psycholinguistics Book Review

    Psycholinguistics is a field of study concerned with psychological aspects of

    language studies. It goes to the heart of what we do with language and it provides

    insights into how we assemble our own speech and writing and how we understand

    that of others. As the field of Psycholinguistics is relatively new, not all

    Psycholinguistics books cover the same subject matter. For any learner who has

    never been exposed to any aspects of Psychology, it is recommended to start off

    with an introductory book. Having to browse a few books, I subsequently found

    quite a comprehensive book compared to other Introduction to Psycholinguistics

    books. The technicality in elaborating the subject matters might not be of

    comprehension to entry level learners. Nevertheless, I found it comprehensible on

    the whole. The book entitled Psycholinguistics : Psychology, Linguistics and the

    Study of Natural Language, authored by Joseph F. Kess, published by John

    Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia 1992. This ten-chaptered

    book covers from the history of Psycholinguistics right up to first language

    acquisition by children inclusive of the study of phonology, morphology, syntax,

    discourse, semantics, and biological correlates.

    Through my analysis, each topic in this book carries approximately the same

    weight. Each topic is being theoretically and practically discussed and investigated

    in some detail. Also detailed are those research topics that have captured the

    interests of psycholinguists over the past few decades like language and thought

    and language acquisition. The chapter Language and Thought, where some books

    would use the term Language and the Brain, starts off with the author’s introductory

    comments, and moves on to thorough discussion on Linguistic Relativity

    Hypothesis and ends with an interesting insight on Piaget and Vygotsky’s opinions

    1
    on cognitive and linguistic development. The author here poses the issues of

    whether language is necessary for thought, whether the nature of language

    determines the nature of thought, or whether there is simply a partial dependence

    between the two. To answer those issues the author highlights the Linguistic

    Relativity Hypothesis, a notion made by Benjamin Lee Whorf (1956), which states

    that the force of linguistic habit (structure of the language) influences the way in

    which one understands his or her environment. In this particular chapter, the author

    outlines Piaget and Vygotsky’s brief but informative insights on the developmental

    sequences of stages in cognitive development. This helps to better understand the

    later chapter on first language acquisition. For anyone who would like to make an

    extended reading on the basic terms and concepts of first language acquisition, I

    would recommend to read the chapter 10 (First Language Acquisition) of this book.

    In the introductory part of this chapter, the author gives examples and makes

    comparisons across languages and then gradually elaborates the acquisition of

    phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of an English-speaking

    child. The author maintains that even though children do differ in the beginning and

    rate of language development, but the order of stages and stages suggested by

    theorists seem to remain constant.

    In conclusion, even though this book is intended for senior learners, entry level

    learners could as well make use of this book through the basic terms and concepts

    explained in each topic prior to the investigations made. This book should be a

    useful reference as it investigates on a number of theoretical and research attempts

    on how language is comprehended, produced and acquired.

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