Ebook: Development of the Syntax-Discourse Interface

In this book, I address several issues of child linguistic development from the perspective of the syntax -discourse interface. Traditionally, language acquisition research has focused on the development of one of the linguistic modules, e.g. acquisition of syntax, morphology or phonology. While this approach can be viewed as fruitful in some cases, there is a number of linguistic phenomena whose explanation depends on the interaction of different modules and, therefore, different domains of linguistic knowledge. A typical example is pronominal anaphora: It can be shown that to correctly use pronominal elements, normal adult speakers must possess both syntactic and pragmatic knowledge, and that these kinds of knowledge must interact with each other. With regard to the language acquisition process, such phenomena suggest a somewhat different approach to the language acquisition research. Indeed, if some experimental studies show that children make errors in the construction under investigation, it will be necessary to consider these results from the point of view of the interaction of the different domains of linguistic knowledge involved in their interpretation. In other words, if this particular construction requires the integration of, for example, syntactic and discourse-based knowledge, children's errors may, in principle, be due to their lack of the former, the latter, or both kinds of knowledge, and cannot be taken as direct evidence for the "underdeveloped" status of just one of them.

---

The main focus of the book is the development of referential abilities in young children. A number of findings suggest that errors exhibited by young children in various experiments and spontaneous speech result from the inability to implement discourse-related knowledge. It is further argued that the deficiency is due to the lack of language-specific processing resources characteristic for young children. In order to support the lack of processing resources argument, certain similarities between the language of children and Broca's aphasics are also discussed.
A new theoretical model of the syntax-discourse interface is presented, and it is shown how the proposed model can explain various psycholinguistic findings.
The book is intended for scholars and graduate students working in the field of language acquisition and language impairment. It may also be of interest to linguists whose work focuses on the theory of syntax-discourse interface.

---

The main focus of the book is the development of referential abilities in young children. A number of findings suggest that errors exhibited by young children in various experiments and spontaneous speech result from the inability to implement discourse-related knowledge. It is further argued that the deficiency is due to the lack of language-specific processing resources characteristic for young children. In order to support the lack of processing resources argument, certain similarities between the language of children and Broca's aphasics are also discussed.
A new theoretical model of the syntax-discourse interface is presented, and it is shown how the proposed model can explain various psycholinguistic findings.
The book is intended for scholars and graduate students working in the field of language acquisition and language impairment. It may also be of interest to linguists whose work focuses on the theory of syntax-discourse interface.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xii
Introduction....Pages 1-7
Establishing Reference....Pages 8-22
Syntax, Discourse and Interpretation of Pronominals....Pages 23-53
Anomalous Indexation....Pages 54-68
Experimental Evidence for the Proposed Model....Pages 69-82
Possessive Pronouns and Reflexives in Russian....Pages 83-92
Plural Pronouns....Pages 93-102
Children’s Interpretation of the Discourse-Dependent Reflexives....Pages 103-130
Discourse-Based Analyses of Root Infinitives....Pages 131-175
Summary and Concluding Remarks....Pages 176-183
Back Matter....Pages 184-216

---

The main focus of the book is the development of referential abilities in young children. A number of findings suggest that errors exhibited by young children in various experiments and spontaneous speech result from the inability to implement discourse-related knowledge. It is further argued that the deficiency is due to the lack of language-specific processing resources characteristic for young children. In order to support the lack of processing resources argument, certain similarities between the language of children and Broca's aphasics are also discussed.
A new theoretical model of the syntax-discourse interface is presented, and it is shown how the proposed model can explain various psycholinguistic findings.
The book is intended for scholars and graduate students working in the field of language acquisition and language impairment. It may also be of interest to linguists whose work focuses on the theory of syntax-discourse interface.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xii
Introduction....Pages 1-7
Establishing Reference....Pages 8-22
Syntax, Discourse and Interpretation of Pronominals....Pages 23-53
Anomalous Indexation....Pages 54-68
Experimental Evidence for the Proposed Model....Pages 69-82
Possessive Pronouns and Reflexives in Russian....Pages 83-92
Plural Pronouns....Pages 93-102
Children’s Interpretation of the Discourse-Dependent Reflexives....Pages 103-130
Discourse-Based Analyses of Root Infinitives....Pages 131-175
Summary and Concluding Remarks....Pages 176-183
Back Matter....Pages 184-216
....