The Discovery of Spoken Language (Language, Speech, and Communication)

"A comprehensive overview of important research bearing on essential questions concerning the bases of linguistic performance. Jusczyk's own studies remind us how masterful application of experimental methods can yield empirical data that impose strong constraints on cognitive theorizing. This research has broad theoretical implications that are just beginning to be understood. The phenomena summarized here should attract the rapt attention of cognitive scientists interested in the biological, experiential, and computational bases of language." -- Mark S. Seidenberg , Neuroscience Program, University of Southern California "This is a remarkable and important book. Jusczyk has composed a fine portrait of the infant listener and the many attempts to describe the beginnings of language. The scope is comprehensive, and he has told the tale with rare style." -- Robert E. Remez , Professor of Psychology, Barnard College Speech carries information about the structure and organization of language. Yet, speech is normally produced as a continuous stream without clearly demarcated boundaries between words. A fundamental problem for any language learner is to segment speech in a way that correctly identifies the words of the language. This is a crucial step toward building a lexicon and learning about the grammatical organization of the language. The Discovery of Spoken Language marks one of the first efforts to integrate the field of infant speech perception research into the general study of language acquisition. It fills in a key part of the acquisition story by providing an extensive review of research on the acquisition of language during the first year of life, focusing primarily on how normally developing infants learn the organization of native language sound patterns. Peter Jusczyk examines the initial capacities that infants possess for discriminating and categorizing speech sounds and how these capacities evolve as infants gain experience with native language input. Considerable attention is paid to ways speech perception capacities develop so that listeners can recognize words in fluent speech. Jusczyk also looks at how infants' growing knowledge of native language sound patterns may facilitate the acquisition of other aspects of language organization and discusses the relationship between the learner's developing capacities for perceiving and producing speech. An appendix reviews the test procedures used to evaluate infant speech perception capacities. A Bradford Book. Language, Speech, and Communication series "The Discovery of Spoken Language" marks one of the first efforts to integrate the field of infant speech perception research into the general study of language acquisition. It fills in a key part of the acquisition story by providing an extensive review of research on the acquisition of language during the first year of life, focusing primarily on how normally developing infants learn the organization of native language sound patterns. Peter Jusczyk examines the initial capacities that infants possess for discriminating and categorizing speech sounds and how these capacities evolve as infants gain experience with native language input. Jusczyk also look s at how infants' growing knowledge of native language sound patterns may facilitate the acquisition of other aspects of language organization, and he discusses the relationship between the learner's developing capacities for perceiving and producing speech. An appendix reviews the test procedures used to evaluate infant speech perception capacities. -- From publisher's description Ch. 1. Surveying The Terrain -- Ch. 2. A Brief Historical Perspective On Language Acquisition Research -- Ch. 3. Early Research On Speech Perception -- Ch. 4. How Speech Perception Develops During The First Year -- Ch. 5. The Role Of Memory And Attentional Processes In The Development Of Speech Perception -- Ch. 6. How Attention To Sound Properties May Facilitate Learning Other Elements Of Linguistic Organization -- Ch. 7. Relating Perception To Production -- Ch. 8. Wrapping Things Up -- App. Methodology Used In Studies Of Infant Speech Perception. Peter W. Jusczyk. A Bradford Book. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [255]-300) And Index.