An introduction 1 [627839]

An introduction 1

An Introduction to Psyc holinguistics

Hojat jodai

The University of Guilan

Dr. Barekat

June 2011

An introduction 2

Abstract

This pape r is written to have a preliminary introduction abou t psycholinguistics.
Psycholinguistics or psychology of languag e is the study of the interrelation between
linguistic factors and psychological aspects. The main subject of research in
psycholinguistics is the study of cognitive processes that under lie the comprehension
and produ ction of language , and the way the cultural environment interact with these
two (Harely, 2005 , p.13). The field of psycholinguistics has been defined by reaction to
Chomsky‟s suppor ters and opponen ts. In this pape r a selective review of some recent
illustrative psycholinguistics research on L2 acquisition will be provided. In
psycholinguistics researchers try to develop models to describe and predict specific
linguistic beha vior. Since the linguistic revolution of the mid -1960 the field has broode d
to encompass a wide range of topics and disciplines. Psycholinguistics is
interdisciplinary and is studied in differen t fields such as psychology, cognitive science
and linguistics. Here after a brief introduction to psycholinguistics, how psycho-
linguistics illustrates languag e comprehen sion from words to texts will be explained.

Key wor ds: psycholinguistics, psychology, language , comprehen sion, acquisition
process

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An Introduction to Psyc holinguistics

Psycholinguistics that m eans psychology of languag e is the study of the psycho-
logical and neurological factors that enab le humans to acquire, use, comprehen d and
produ ce languag e (“Altman”, 2001 , p.1). Due mainly to a lack of cohesive data on how
human brain functions, modern research makes use of biology (natural science
concerned with the study of life and living organ ism), neuro science (t h e scientific
study of how information concerning faculties such as perception, languag e, reasoning
, and emotion is represented and transformed in a human or other animal nervous
system or machinery, linguistics and information theory( a branch of applied
mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quan tification of information .
To study how brain processes languag e, there are a number of sub- disciplines
with non-invasive techniques for studying the neuro logical workings of the brain, for
example neuro linguistics has become a field in its own right. Psycholinguistics covers
the cognitive processes that make it possible to genera te grammatical and meaningful
sentences out of vocabulary and grammatical structure as well as the processes that
make it possible to under stand utteran ces, words, texts, etc. (Miller & Emas , 1983 ) .
Psycholinguistics concerns with the study of the cognitive process that suppor ts
the acquisition and use of language . The scope of psycholinguistics includes language
performance unde r normal circumstances and when it breaks down, For example
following brain damage.

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Historically the focus of most psycholinguists has been on first languag e (L1),
acquisition of first languag e in children and in research on adult comprehen sion and
produ ction (Schmitt, 2002 , p.133-140). The findings and concepts of psycholinguistics is
used and studied by peop le in a variety of fields. Such as psychology, cognitive science
linguistics, and nerou linguistic .There are several subdivisions within psycholinguistics
that are based on the componen ts that make up the language .
Linguistic related areas

Phone tics and phono logy are concerned with the study of speech sound s within
psycholinguistics, research focus is on how the brain process and under stand that
sound s.
Morpho logy is the study of word structure especially the relationship between
related words (such as dog and dogs) and the formation of words based on rules (such
as plural formation).
Syntax is the study of the patterns which dictate how words are combined to
form sentences.
Semantics deal with the meaning of words and sentences where syntax is
concerned with the formal structure of sentences.
Pragmatics is concerned with the role of context in the interpre tation of the
meaning.
Psychology related areas

The study of word recognition and reading examines the processes involved in the
extraction of orthograph ic, morpho logical, phono logical and semantic information from
patterns in printed texts.

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Developmental psycholinguistics studies infants and childrens’ ability to learn
and process language , usually with experimental or at least quan titive methods (as
oppo sed to naturalistic observations such as those made by Jean Piaget, in his
research on the development of children).

Review of Literature

The field of psycholinguistics has been developed and redefined by reaction to
Chomsky. Chomsky’s view abou t creating syntactic sentences was that languag e exists
because human possess an innate ability and was highly critical of skinners book in
1959. That review started what has been termed the cognitive revolution in
psychology. The review of Chomsky still holds that the human ability to use syntax is
qualitatively differen t from any sort of animal communication; this ability may have
resulted from a favorable mutation or from an adaptation of skills evolved for other
purpo ses (Anderson, 1998) .
One of the suppor ters of this view is that the theory that languag e serves group
need s. Better linguistic expressions may have produ ced more cohesion, coopera tion,
and potential for survival. The con view still holds that that languag e –including syntax –
is an outgrowth of hundr eds of thousands of years of increasing intelligence and tens of
thousands of years of human interaction.
Contemporar y theories besides Chomsky, working in the field of theories of
psycholinguistics includes George Lackoff and Steven Pinker. More recently,
psycholinguists have recognized the importance of extending the study of languag e
processing to individuals who are acquiring or actively using more than one language .
In this pape r the term bilingua ls is used to refer to such individuals, even thoug h their

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additional language s may not be as strong as their first language . Because bilingua ls
outnumber monolingua ls in the world‟s popu lation, bilingua ls more than monolingua ls
provide a genially universal account of the cognitive mechanisms that under line
languag e performance (Schmitt, 2002 , p.133-149). Furthermore the use of two or more
language s provide a powerful tool for investigating issues of cognitive representation
and processing that are otherwise hidden from view.
Specific questions with respect to bilingua ls are

Is L2 acquisition differen t from L1 acquisition?

To what extent does the L1 play a role in using the L2?

Are there rules governing code-switching (the use of More than one languag e in an
utteran ce?
How do speakers of more than one languag e keep the two language s apart?

How are language s acquired at some point in time Lost or maintained over time?
(Schmitt, 2002, p.133-149)
Aim and purpose of the study

In this pape r a selective review of some recent illustrative psycholinguistic
research on L2 acquisition and competent bilingua l performance will be provided. This
work according to Schmitt (2002) is framed by an important set of assumption abou t
languag e and cognition (p.133-137). First it is assumed that the cognitive process that
are revealed as individuals acquire proficiency in a second languag e share a common
bases with the process that are in place for competent bilingua ls . Here, first of all the
basic assumption is that L2 learner s and proficient bilingua l relay on similar cognitive
mechanisms that are genera lly universal across language s , althoug h the relative

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importance of some factors may differ depend ing on the structural proper ties of the
languag e involved . For example where the L2 shares the same alphabe t with the L1
can have profound consequen ces for the nature of cross languag e interactions. Yet we
assume that fundamentally the same cognitive resources are used when a native
Persian speaker learns English or a native English speaker learns Persian. Thirdly it is
assumed the same cognitive recourses are universally available to all learner s althoug h
individuals will differ in some respects t hat that may have s pecific implications for
success in L2 learning . For example the degre e to which individuals can devote
memory and intentional resources to processing and storage , may play an important
role in their ability to develop automaticity in the L2, to resolve ambiguities during
sentence comprehen sion and to inhibit the L1 when required to do so.
This study is outlined as follows. First we focus on the way in which
psycholinguistics construct cognitive models to characterize to repre sentations and
process that under line languag e performance. Due to the fact that our review wi ll be
necessarily brief, our illustration is restricted to a model of languag e produ ction that has
been extende d to bilingua l speaker. The model captures many of the core problems that
need to be resolved when speakers have more than one languag e available. The model
may also be used the way in which psycholinguistics formulate hypotheses and condu ct
experiments to test theore tically based predictions.
Second we will illustrate the contribution of psycholinguistics research by
considering a set of selected questions that have been the focus of empirical selective
nature of lexical in word recognition and the development of lexical proficiency in
second languag e and aspects of languag e retention and attrition. One of our purpo ses

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in this pape r is to illuminate the genera l logic and method of psychological approa ches
to research.
Significance of the studying of psycholinguistic

In psycholinguistics researchers try to develop models to describe and preferably
predict specific linguistic beha vior (Gernsbacher, 1994 , p.75). The significance is that it
captures all aspects of languag e use. Ultimately psycholinguistics tries to have a model
that describes how languag e is processed in our brain . The other significance of
studying of psycholinguistics is that it uncovers universal processes that governs the
development, use , and breakdowns of languag e (Bates et.al ,1995 , p.96 ) .
However to the extent that research in a given subfield of psycholinguistics is
dominated by English, we canno t distinguish between universal mechanisms and
English-specific facts. Psycholinguistics present a research on languag e development in
children, languag e symptoms in brain injured adults, and languag e processing in normal
adults, in an order that reflects the impact that cross languag e variations have had on
theore tical framework within each field ( Duffy , et all .,1998) .
Research questions

In this research the following questions will be answered:
What is psycholinguistics?
Who is psycholinguist?

What is the main focus of psycholinguistics?

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What is psycholinguistics?

The earliest use of the term „psyc holinguistics‟ was in J.R Kantor Objective Psychology
of Grammar (1936) , in which Kantor as an arden t beha viorist attende d to refuse the
idea that l languag e reflected any form of intende d cognition or mind . According to
Kantor the German psycholinguists tradition was simply wrong .The term more firmly
established with the publication in 1954 of a repor t of a working group on the
relationship between linguistic and psychology entitled psycholinguistics. The repor ts
was published simultaneou sly in two journa ls, that separately served the linguistics and
psychology discipline. Almost 50 years on, research into the many differen t aspects of
the psychology of languag e is published in a vast range of journa ls, and account for
aroun d 10 percent of all publications in psychology.
According to the Wikipedia-world wide web free encycloped ia Psycholinguistics is
the branch of cognitive psych ology that studies the psychological basis of linguistic
competence and performance. Psycholinguistics studies the psychological and
neuro logical factors that enab le human to acquire, use and under stand language .
Psycholinguistics mainly concern with the use of psychological / scientific / experimental
methods to study languag e acquisition, produ ction and processing.
In summary we can define psycholinguistics as a scientific study of mental
processes and elements employed in language . Psycholinguistics is the empirical and
theore tical study of the mental faculty. Since the linguistic revolution of the mid-1960 s
the field has developed to encompass a wide range of topics and disciplines.
Psycholinguistics st arted (as did the rest of psychology) in the early to mid1960 s.
The Chomskian revolution (e.g. Chomsky, 1957 , 1965 , and 1968) promoted languag e

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and specifically its structure, as obeying laws and principles in much the same way as
say chemical structures do. The philosophe r Borland Russ ell (1959 ) was sensitive to
this emerging legacy when he wrote:
The linguistic philosophy which was only abou t language , and not abou t the world,
is the boy who preferred the clock w ithout the pendu lum because althoug h it no
longer told the time, it went more easily than before and at a more exhilarating
pace.

Subsequen tly psycholinguistic research has none theless recognized the inseparab ility
of Language from its under lying mental machinery and external world. Who is
psycholinguist?
A psycholinguist is a social scientist who studies psycho linguistics. The main
interest of a psycholinguist is languag e development; languag e use and languag e break
down .perception, attention, motor planning and memory, that is Critical for languag e
but are not unique to languag e is the other areas of psycholinguistic interest. More
specifically a psycholinguist studies language , speech produ ction and comprehen sion,
using beha vioral and neuro logical methods which traditionally are developed in the field
of psychology thoug h other methods such as corpus analysis are also widely used. Due
to its interdisciplinary nature psycholinguistics, can be found in linguistics, psychology,
cognitive science, communication science, communication disorder s and other
depar tments. The main of purpo se of psycholinguistics is to outline and describe the
proce ss of produ cing and comprehen ding communication (“The languag e”, 2001,
p.148). In the tradition of psychology, various models are used to further this
under standing.

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Psycholinguistic curren tly repre sents a widely diverse field. Many and are also
considered to be linguists, nerolinguists, cognitive linguists neuro cognitivist
psycholinguistics. There are subtle differen ces between these titles, thoug h they are all
attempting to use differen t facets of similar issues.
What are the main interests of psycholinguistics?

Interest in psycholinguistics is not confined to psychology and linguistics. Many have
been stimulated by its practical possibilities. One thinks of medical applications to the
diagno sis and treatment of a heterogeneou s variety of languag e disorder s ranging from
a simple stammering to the overwhelming complexities of aphasia. One thinks too of
pedagog ical applications of potential improvement in our methods for teaching reading
and writing of second language.
If psycholinguistic principles were made sufficiently explicit, they could be applied to
those technical concepts of the twentieth century. In George A Miller view the central
task of psycholinguistics is to describe the psychological processes that go on when
peop le use sentences (Field , 2006 , p-93 ) .
As we mentioned psycholinguistics is interdisciplinary. Harely (2005 ) states that the
main object of research in psycholinguistics is the Study of the cognitive process that
under lies the comprehension and produ ction of languag e and the way cultural
environment interacts with these two. More detailed subsections of psycholinguistics
describes the languag e abilities of infants as they acquired their first words and develop
their first grammatical skills (Mhler , 1990 , p.143-187 ) , the representation and access
of words (spoken and written ) in the mental lexicon , the repre sentation and process
implicated in sentence processing and discourse comprehen sion , and finally the

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manne r in which as we speak words and sentences. Psycholinguistics is as much abou t
the study of the human mind itself as it is abou t the study of minds ability to
communicate and comprehen d (Altmann , 2001 ,p.129-135) . The full depth, richness,
and scope of psycholinguistics go far beyond the limits afforde d here.
Early days of psycholinguistics move to a selection of curren t topics, beginning with
the languag e abilities of newborn infants, and moving on from how infants repre sent the
speech they here to , how they acquire first vocabulary and how later , as adults , they
repre sent and access words in the mental lexicon (both spoken and written) .
Psycholinguistics also attends to the acquisition of grammatical skills in children and the
processing of sentences by adults to text and discourse under standing. Wilhelm Wundt
(1832-1920 ) noted in Die Sprache (1900 ) psycholinguistics is as much abou t the mind
as it is abou t the language .

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Conclusion

The aim of this pape r was to have an introductory explanation to psycholinguistics.
Also to provide a brief answer to the questions like: what is psycholinguistics? , who is
psycholinguist? And what is the main interest of psycholinguistics? Due to the fact that
psycholinguistics is an interdisciplinary field, nowadays it is the focus of researchers
who study the interrelation between mind and language . The explanation of the process
of comprehension from a psycholinguistic perspective from a word to a text is another
area of interest of psycholinguists that because of our limitation, we canno t afford it here
There are psycholinguistic related factors that affect comprehen sion .This factors
related to individual differen ces and because of the mentioned reason we didn‟t explain
them in this paper , and it has been left to be studied by other researchers.

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