Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguistics is an interdisciplinary field that investigates the mental processes involved

in the use of language. It draws on the insights of psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience to
understand how people understand, produce, and learn language.
Definition

Psycholinguistics
is the study of the mental mechanisms that underlie the acquisition, comprehension, production,
and use of language. It seeks to understand how humans process and use language, including
how we perceive spoken and written words, how we construct sentences, and how we interpret
language in context.
Chomsky: The Founding Father of Psycholinguistics
Noam Chomsky is widely considered to be the founding father of psycholinguistics. His work
in the 1950s and 1960s revolutionized our understanding of language by proposing that humans
have an innate capacity for language, known as a Universal Grammar (UG). UG is a set of
principles that are shared by all human languages, and it allows us to learn and generate new
sentences that we have never heard before.
Psycholinguistics Major Themes/Focus
Psycholinguists investigate a variety of topics related to language, including:
Language comprehension is the process of understanding the meaning of spoken and written
language. It involves a complex series of mental steps that allow us to extract meaning from
the words we hear or read. These steps include:
• Lexical access: Recognizing the words that we hear or read and understanding their
meanings.
• Syntactic parsing: Understanding the grammatical structure of the words in a
sentence.
• Semantic interpretation: Building a mental representation of the meaning of the
sentence.
• Pragmatic inference: Understanding the speaker's intention or meaning based on the
context of the situation.
Language production is the process of generating spoken or written language. It involves a
series of mental steps that allow us to translate our thoughts into words. These steps include:
• Conceptualization: Formulating the ideas we want to express.
• Formulation: Planning the structure of our message.
• Lexicalization: Selecting the appropriate words.
• Articulation: Producing the sounds or writing the words.
Language acquisition is the process of acquiring new languages. It is a complex process that
involves a number of factors, including:
• Exposure: The amount of time and intensity of exposure to the language.
• Motivation: The learner's desire to learn the language and their reasons for learning it.
• Age: Children are generally better at learning new languages than adults.
• Individual differences: Some people have a natural aptitude for learning languages,
while others find it more difficult.
Bilingualism is the ability to understand and use two or more languages. There are two main
types of bilingualism:
• Simultaneous bilingualism: When a person learns two languages from birth or at a
very young age.
• Sequential bilingualism: When a person learns a second language later in life.
Modular Models
Modular models of language production propose that language production is composed of
separate modules that are responsible for different aspects of the process. For example, one
module might be responsible for generating syntax, while another module might be responsible
for selecting words.
Non-modular Models
Non-modular models of language production propose that language production is a more
interactive process, where different aspects of the process are not as neatly separated as
modular models suggest.
Levelt Model of Language Production
The Levelt model of language production is one of the most influential models of language
production. It proposes a three-stage model of language production:
• Conceptualization: The speaker generates the ideas they want to express.
• Formulation: The speaker plans the structure of their message.
• Articulation: The speaker produces the sounds or writing the words.
Each stage of the Levelt model is further subdivided into substages. For example, the
formulation stage includes the substages of lexicalization (selecting words) and
grammaticalization (putting words into the correct order).
Definition of Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is an interdisciplinary field that examines the relationship between language
and society. It delves into how language use is shaped by various social factors, including
culture, ethnicity, gender, age, social class, education, and geographical location.
Sociolinguists explore how language variation occurs and how it serves as a marker of social
identity, power dynamics, and cultural norms.
William Labov: The Founding Father of Sociolinguistics
William Labov is widely recognized as the founding father of sociolinguistics. His
groundbreaking research on language variation in New York City, particularly among African
American communities, established the empirical foundations of the field. Labov's work
demonstrated that language use is not uniform but rather varies systematically according to
social context and individual speaker characteristics. His studies on topics such as vowel
pronunciation, consonant deletion, and storytelling patterns revolutionized the understanding
of language variation as a social phenomenon.
Major Themes/Focus of Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics encompasses a broad range of themes that explore the intricate connections
between language and society. Here are some of the major areas of focus:
1. Language Use in Social Contexts: Sociolinguists investigate how language is used in
different social contexts, such as formal settings, informal conversations, and online
interactions. They examine how factors like formality, power relationships, and group
dynamics influence language choice and style.
2. Social Circumstances Effects on Language Use: Sociolinguists explore how social
circumstances, such as social status, gender, ethnicity, and geographical location,
affect language use. They analyze how these factors influence pronunciation,
grammar, vocabulary, and discourse patterns.
3. Language Attitudes: Sociolinguists study people's attitudes towards different
language varieties, accents, and dialects. They investigate how these attitudes shape
language use and influence perceptions of social competence, prestige, and identity.
4. Language Variation: Sociolinguists examine the systematic variation in language use
across different social groups and contexts. They study how language varies
according to factors like age, gender, ethnicity, social class, and geographical location.
5. Language and Gender: Sociolinguists investigate how gender influences language
use and how language constructs and reflects gender identities. They examine gender
differences in conversation styles, politeness strategies, and language choices.
6. Multilingualism: Sociolinguists study the use of multiple languages in individuals
and societies. They explore how multilingualism affects language acquisition,
language maintenance, and language shift.
7. Diglossia: Sociolinguists examine diglossia, a situation where two varieties of a
language exist, one for formal and one for informal contexts. They study the social
and linguistic factors that contribute to diglossic situations.
 8. Language Contact: Sociolinguists investigate the effects of language contact, the
interaction between different languages. They study language borrowing, code-
switching, and language creolization.
New Englishes
The term "New Englishes" refers to varieties of English that have emerged and developed
outside of the traditional Anglo-Saxon core. These varieties reflect the unique historical,
cultural, and linguistic influences of the regions where they are spoken.
Braj B Kachru's Circles of English
Braj B Kachru proposed a model of English use that categorizes varieties of English into
three concentric circles:
• Inner Circle: English as a native language (ENL)
• Outer Circle: English as a second language (ESL)
• Expanding Circle: English as a foreign language (EFL)

For better understanding:

New Englishes are varieties of English that have developed in different parts of the world as
a result of British colonization. They are characterized by their own unique features of
pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Some examples of New Englishes include
American English, Australian English, Indian English, and Jamaican English.
Braj B Kachru's Circles of English
Braj B. Kachru developed a model of the spread of English around the world called the
"Circles of English." According to Kachru's model, there are three main circles of English:
• The Inner Circle: This is the circle of native English speakers, such as those in the
United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
• The Outer Circle: This is the circle of non-native English speakers who use English
as a second language, such as those in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Singapore.
• The Expanding Circle: This is the circle of non-native English speakers who use
English as a foreign language, such as those in China, Japan, and Brazil.