Certain to be a landmark in the language sciences, this book persuasively argues that all of our fundamental knowledge of language can be "learned" on the basis of what we hear, with recourse only to general basic cognitive abilities: intention reading and pattern-finding. No hard-wired "language instinct" is required. Tomasello's synthesis of linguistics and psychology will permanently change the debates about the developmental origins of language.--Adele Goldberg, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Constructing a Language is the best book on language development since Roger Brown's A First Language. Tomasello has taken full advantage of the research that has been done in the thirty years since Brown's landmark book, to give us a full account of language acquisition, from the first signs of intentional communication in prespeech through the most complex syntactic constructions children produce. The book rebuilds bridges between child language and linguistic theory -- but in place of generative grammar, Tomasello ties the study of emergent language to a usage-based approach derived from cognitive and functional linguistics. He is particularly persuasive in showing how it solves the essential problem of how children "get from here to there," as they move by analogy from item-based phrases and word islands to richer constructions. Tomasello's book presents a comprehensive and well-articulated theory of the language-learning process that is more complete and richer in its heuristic value than any other attempt of its kind. It will be difficult to refute and impossible to ignore.--Elizabeth Bates, University of California at San Diego

Tomasello offers an extended and detailed exposition of his 'usage-based' theory of language acquisition, which he contrasts to nativist or 'universal grammar' theories such as those of Noam Chomsky and of Steven Pinker...Throughout this masterfully written but stylistically and intellectually dense book, Tomasello reports extensively on current research and looks critically at the assumptions and assertions of his contemporaries.-- (11/01/2003)

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

Hello! Ria Christie Collections is an online venture that was initially set up in 2012 to sell books. We do not have a physical high street store. We are professional online booksellers. We only sell brand new books in perfect condition that we source from various suppliers and the publishers. Primarily, our aim is to provide an excellent service to all our customers. We always work as a team to achieve this. Our other objectives are to: 1. Ensure that all our products reach their destination quickly in a safe and secure manner 2. Answer to all our customer queries within 24 hours 3. Ensure that our customers are happy with their purchases 4. Provide all the items at a competitive price 5. Always listen to our customers Ria Christie Collections is not a registered company. It is a Sole Trader venture. Other key information is shown below: Contact Person Name: Rakesh Luchmun (Mr) Storefront Name: Ria Christie Collections Place of Establishment Address: Suite B; ARUN House; ARUN Building Arundel Road Uxbridge UB8 2RR United Kingdom E-Mail Address: riachristie@hotmail.co.uk VAT Number: GB 160 5650 25 We always work hard and aim to comply with all of Abebooks Policies. If you have any issues, please do not hesitate to write to us whether before or after a purchase. We promise to reply to you promptly and, in any case, within 24 hours. Thank you kindly! Yours sincerely Mr Rakesh Luchmun (Founder) and the Ria Christie Collections Team

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

Ryefield Investments Limited
175 Pield Heath Road, Uxbridge, UB8 3NL, United Kingdom

Terms of Sale:

All Returns and Refund are as per Abebooks policies.

Shipping Terms:

Orders usually ship within 2 business days. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required. Thank you!

Payment Methods
accepted by seller

Add to Wants

Items related to Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language...

Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition

Tomasello, Michael

New - Soft cover

Seller's business information