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The study of language and mind
Explores what goes on in the human mind as an
individual acquires, comprehends, produces and
stores language.
It also discusses how the study of language and
mind overlaps with that of language and the brain.
It is the study of the mental aspects of language
and speech. It is primarily concerned with the
ways in which language is represented and
processed in the brain.
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Linguistics Psycholinguistics
Object: language Object: speech process
Studies language as a
Studies the structural process
components of a
language
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Psycholinguistics is a relatively new branch of
linguistics, an outcome of two-field convergence --
philology and psychology.
This discipline investigates the following areas:
• Language, Mind and Brain
• Mental Lexicon
• Language Processing
• Speech Generation
• Language Acquisition
• Second-Language Learning
• And much more …
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Language Production
Auditory organs
Random Articulation Internalization
stimulated by the an infant takes in
pleasurable experiences whatever it can
of the child, the main
stimulus: reflex;
produces non-distinctive
sounds
Production
Getting familiar with internalizes the basic
the basic sound system of a
etc morphological sets of language:
the language phonology; produces
distinctive sounds
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Observation of spontaneous utterances
1. Spontaneous utterances which deviate from
the norm in some way are the most
informative.
2. ordinary speech is somewhat messy.
Psycholinguistic experiments
1. Experiments in which the number of
variable factors can be controlled and the
results can be accurately measured.
2. present a problem – experimental paradox
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The arguments whether it is inborn or learnt
are futile.
Both nature and nurture are important.
When individual reach a crucial point in their
maturation, they are biologically in a state of
readiness for learning the behaviour.
The biological trigger could not be activated if
there was nobody around form whom they
could learn the behaviour.
E.g: Genie and Laura
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Content approach – children innately contain a
blueprint for language. ( children may have a
universal framework imprinted on their brains)
Process approach – children are innately
geared to processing linguistic data
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Social nature of language and the role of
parents
1. children are social beings who have a great
need to interact
2. motherese or caregiver language has fairly
similar characteristics almost everywhere.
Criticism to this approach- the fact that parents
make it easier for children to learn language
does not explain why they are so quick to
acquire it.
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Children are not simply imitating what they
hear going on around them as if they were
parrots.
The learning process involved are far more
complex.
Language is rule-governed
They are engaged in an active search for the
rules which underlie the language to which
they are exposed.
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Children have to learn not only the syntax and
sounds of their language, but also the meaning
of words.
It takes some time for children to discover what
words can refer to separate things.
They may be able to use words only in a
particular context (undergeneralization)
They use words for commoner than
overgeneralization.
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Most people assume that this is a passive
process.
Understanding language is active. Hearers
jump to conclusions on the basis of partial
information.
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Perceptual strategies: the process in which the
hearers jump to conclusions on the basis of
outline clues by imposing what they expect to
hear onto the stream of sounds.
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There are two types of process
1. words have to be selected.
2. they have to be integrated into syntax.
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Aphasia : the general word for serious speech disorders
which literally “without speech”.
Agrammatism : the technical name for the man
condition which cannot arrange the words correctly
(his speech appears to be without grammar)-though he
can mostly understand other people quite well, and
answer appropriately.
Fluent aphasia: the patient speak fluently, though they
tend not to make sense. They also produce strange
made-up words and often have severe problems
comprehending what is said to them.
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Cerebral hemispheres:
1. left hemisphere controls the right side of the
body,
2. right hemisphere controls the left.
The left hemisphere is the more powerful
dominant hemisphere. This is not only because
it controls the right side of the body-the
majority of humans are right-handed-but also
because it normally controls language.
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Fluent aphasics suggest that speech production
and speech comprehension might be to a large
extent separate, since one can exist without the
other.
Aphasiology represents the borderline between
the mind and the brain.
Psycholinguistics : to map out what is
happening in the mind, independently of how
language is organized in the brain.
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