This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Gathercole, V. C. M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Introduction to Special Issue

Language-specific influences on acquisition and cognition

University of Wales Bangor

This special issue focuses on evidence bearing on the specific ways in which linguistic differences across languages may affect what is learned early (or late) in language and to what extent language-specific structures interact with cognition. The ultimate question is whether or not development follows a universal course or is influenced by the linguistic system being acquired. Of particular interest in the linguistic realm are data exploring what governs the late development of linguistic forms; of particular interest in the cognitive realm are areas for which crosslinguistic data reveal linguistic influences on the timing of development of cognitive concepts or on attentional patterns in children. The combined research suggests that the morphosyntactic structure of the language, the semantic notions encoded in the language and the cognitive underpinnings related to those structures all play a role in the course of development.

Key Words: Bilinguals • crosslinguistic language development • crosslinguistic research • input effects • language and cognition • language processing • language universals • timing of development

First Language, Vol. 26, No. 1, 5-17 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0142723706060738


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?