UrFU Library: 3. Psycholinguistics

The Oxford Introduction to Language Study Series

Psycholinguistics by Thomas Scovel

“History is marked by the very human urge to explore and venture. […] But it has only been very recently […] that we have dared to explore the most proximal portion of our universe – the human mind.”

With these words Thomas Scovel, a professor of psycholinguistics at San Francisco State University, begins his address to the reader, and this quote reflects the whole essence of the book. What is the link between language and mind? How do children manage to master the language? Do we learn language or is it an innate human skill? In what way does the human mode of communication differ from animals’? Why does diseases that cause people to lose the ability to speak and understand speech exist? The author gives the answers to these and many other questions in his manual. Theoretical preliminaries are traditionally mixed with interesting and even funny examples. Here is one from chapter 2. Acquisition. The birth of grammar. The chapter is devoted to the amazing ability of children to master the grammar skill of their native language on an instinctive level, while creating new expressions and make their parents laugh:
Daughter: Somebody’s at the door.
Mother: There’s nobody at the door.
Daughter: There’s yesbody at the door.

(from P. Reich. 1986. Language Development. Prentice-Hall, page 142)

The author explains that although most information is devoted to language and speech, the manual should not be considered an "introduction to the theory of language science," but rather an "introduction to language psychology." Sounds, words, sentences are not the center of attention, they are all just a way to look into the human mind, the real object of the study.

The book will attract not only linguists and psychologists, it will be useful to teachers of foreign languages, who want to work more effectively with pupils, showing professionalism not only in linguistics, but also in psychology.

Ural Federal University Library