• Language as a Complex Adaptive System (Paperback / softback) 9781444334005
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Language as a Complex Adaptive System

Nick C. Ellis (Author), Diane Larsen-Freeman (Author)

9781444334005, Wiley

Paperback / softback, published 19 February 2010

288 pages
22.9 x 15.4 x 1.6 cm, 0.381 kg

"Readers of this book are certain to gain a great sense of increased understanding, not only of the workings of language but also of current research innovations within the Emergentist paradigm. All ten of the papers are clearly written so that those with little previous exposure to this type of work will be easily engaged and be able to follow the evidence and arguments presented." (The Linguist List, 7 December 2010)

  • Explores a new approach to studying language as a complex adaptive system, illustrating its commonalities across many areas of language research
  • Brings together a team of leading researchers in linguistics, psychology, and complex systems to discuss the groundbreaking significance of this perspective for their work
  • Illustrates its application across a variety of subfields, including languages usage, language evolution, language structure, and first and second language acquisition

"What a breath of fresh air! As interesting a collection of papers as you are likely to find on the evolution, learning, and use of language from the point of view of both cognitive underpinnings and communicative functions."  Michael Tomasello, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Editorial and Dedications v-vii
Nick C. Ellis & Diane Larsen-Freeman

Chapter 1:  Language is a complex adaptive system: Position paper 1-26  
‘The Five Graces Group' Clay Beckner, Richard Blythe, Joan Bybee, Morten H. Christiansen, William Croft, Nick C. Ellis, John Holland, Jinyun Ke, Diane Larsen-Freeman, & Tom Schoenemann

Chapter 2: A usage-based account of constituency and reanalysis 27-46
Clay Beckner & Joan Bybee

Chapter 3: The speech community in evolutionary language dynamics  47-63
Richard A. Blythe & William A. Croft

Chapter 4: Linking rule acquisition in novel phrasal constructions 64-89
Jeremy K. Boyd, Erin A. Gottschalk, & Adele E. Goldberg

Chapter 5: Constructing a second language: Analyses and computational simulations of the emergence of linguistic constructions from usage 90-125
Nick C. Ellis & Diane Larsen-Freeman

Chapter 6: A usage-based approach to recursion in sentence processing 126-161
Morten H. Christiansen, & Maryellen C. MacDonald

Chapter 7: Evolution of brain and language 162-186
P. Thomas Schoenemann

Chapter 8: Complex adaptive systems and the origins of adaptive structure: what experiments can tell us 187-205
 Hannah Cornish, Monica Tamariz,  & Simon Kirby

Chapter 9: Meaning in the making: meaning potential emerging from acts of meaning 206-229
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen

Chapter 10: Individual differences: Interplay of learner characteristics and learning environment 230-248
Zoltán Dörnyei

Chapter 11: If language is a complex adaptive system, what is language assessment? 249-268
Robert J. Mislevy & Chengbin Yin

Subject Index 268-275                                                   

Subject Areas: Language: reference & general [CB]
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