Language-Specific Factors in First Language Acquisition

1 - Acknowledgments [Seite 7]
2 - 0 Introduction [Seite 15]
2.1 - 0.1 Why space? [Seite 15]
2.2 - 0.2 Space across languages [Seite 16]
2.3 - 0.3 A developmental perspective [Seite 17]
2.4 - 0.4 The organization of the book [Seite 18]
3 - Part I: State of the art [Seite 21]
3.1 - 1 Language and cognition [Seite 23]
3.1.1 - 1.1 Convergences of the notions language and cognition [Seite 23]
3.1.1.1 - 1.1.1 Language [Seite 23]
3.1.1.2 - 1.1.2 Cognition [Seite 29]
3.1.2 - 1.2 The relation between language and thought [Seite 34]
3.1.2.1 - 1.2.1 Language is thought [Seite 35]
3.1.2.2 - 1.2.2 Language and thought do not influence each other [Seite 36]
3.1.2.3 - 1.2.3 Thought influences language [Seite 38]
3.1.2.4 - 1.2.4 Language influences thought [Seite 40]
3.1.2.5 - 1.2.5 Conclusion [Seite 42]
3.2 - 2 Linguistic determinism and "thinking for speaking" [Seite 44]
3.2.1 - 2.1 Linguistic determinism [Seite 45]
3.2.2 - 2.2 "Thinking for speaking" [Seite 50]
3.2.3 - 2.3 Implications for language acquisition [Seite 53]
3.2.4 - 2.4 Are we on the wrong track? [Seite 56]
3.2.5 - 2.5 Conclusion [Seite 58]
3.3 - 3 The relation between language and cognition in different language acquisition theories [Seite 60]
3.3.1 - 3.1 Nativism [Seite 60]
3.3.1.1 - 3.1.1 Basic assumptions of nativism about first language acquisition [Seite 61]
3.3.1.2 - 3.1.2 Criticism and further development of the nativist position [Seite 64]
3.3.2 - 3.2 Cognitivism [Seite 68]
3.3.2.1 - 3.2.1 Piaget's theory of cognitive development and his assumptions about first language acquisition [Seite 68]
3.3.2.2 - 3.2.2 Criticism and further developments of Piaget's theory [Seite 72]
3.3.3 - 3.3 Constructivism [Seite 76]
3.3.3.1 - 3.3.1 Construction Grammar and usage-based approaches to first language acquisition [Seite 76]
3.3.3.2 - 3.3.2 Criticism of constructivist and usage-based research [Seite 81]
3.3.4 - 3.4 Conclusion [Seite 84]
3.4 - 4 Selected aspects of spatial cognition in children [Seite 87]
3.4.1 - 4.1 The emergence of spatial cognition [Seite 87]
3.4.2 - 4.2 Spatial relations [Seite 89]
3.4.3 - 4.3 Motion [Seite 92]
3.4.4 - 4.4 Causality [Seite 94]
3.4.5 - 4.5 Summary [Seite 96]
3.5 - 5 Verbalizations of motion events [Seite 98]
3.5.1 - 5.1 A typological approach to the expression of motion events: Talmy's framework [Seite 99]
3.5.2 - 5.2 Variability in the expression of motion events and its cognitive implications: Slobin's assumptions [Seite 112]
3.5.3 - 5.3 Motion events in child language [Seite 119]
3.5.3.1 - 5.3.1 Semantic components [Seite 120]
3.5.3.2 - 5.3.2 Syntactic complexity [Seite 127]
3.5.3.3 - 5.3.3 Co-verbal gestures. [Seite 129]
3.5.4 - 5.4 Motion events in German [Seite 130]
3.5.5 - 5.5 Motion events in French [Seite 139]
3.6 - 6 General assumptions [Seite 146]
4 - Part II : Experimental study on the expression of motion events in French and German [Seite 149]
4.1 - 7 Methodology [Seite 151]
4.1.1 - 7.1 Participants [Seite 151]
4.1.2 - 7.2 Material [Seite 152]
4.1.2.1 - 7.2.1 Voluntary Motion [Seite 152]
4.1.2.2 - 7.2.2 Caused Motion [Seite 153]
4.1.3 - 7.3 Procedure [Seite 155]
4.1.4 - 7.4 Transcription [Seite 156]
4.1.5 - 7.5 Coding System [Seite 156]
4.1.5.1 - 7.5.1 General coding principles [Seite 156]
4.1.5.2 - 7.5.2 Basic coding lines [Seite 157]
4.1.5.3 - 7.5.3 Synthetic coding lines [Seite 164]
4.2 - 8 Specific hypotheses [Seite 166]
4.2.1 - 8.1 Density and Information Focus [Seite 166]
4.2.2 - 8.2 Information Locus [Seite 167]
4.2.3 - 8.3 Global Architecture [Seite 168]
4.2.4 - 8.4 Qualitative analyses [Seite 168]
4.3 - 9 Results: Voluntary Motion [Seite 170]
4.3.1 - 9.1 Density [Seite 170]
4.3.1.1 - 9.1.1 Density as a function of target items [Seite 172]
4.3.1.2 - 9.1.2 Density in control items [Seite 173]
4.3.2 - 9.2 Information Focus [Seite 174]
4.3.2.1 - 9.2.1 Information Focus in target items [Seite 176]
4.3.2.1.1 - 9.2.1.1 Up-events [Seite 177]
4.3.2.1.2 - 9.2.1.2 Down-events [Seite 179]
4.3.2.1.3 - 9.2.1.3 Across-events [Seite 182]
4.3.2.2 - 9.2.2 Information Focus in control items [Seite 184]
4.3.3 - 9.3 Information Locus [Seite 189]
4.3.3.1 - 9.3.1 Information Locus in target items [Seite 192]
4.3.3.1.1 - 9.3.1.1 Up-events [Seite 192]
4.3.3.1.2 - 9.3.1.2 Down-events [Seite 196]
4.3.3.1.3 - 9.3.1.3 Across-events [Seite 200]
4.3.3.2 - 9.3.2 Information Locus in control items [Seite 205]
4.3.4 - 9.4 Global Architecture [Seite 209]
4.3.4.1 - 9.4.1 Global Architecture in target items [Seite 212]
4.3.4.1.1 - 9.4.1.1 Up-events [Seite 212]
4.3.4.1.2 - 9.4.1.2 Down-events [Seite 215]
4.3.4.1.3 - 9.4.1.3 Across-events [Seite 219]
4.3.4.2 - 9.4.2 Global Architecture in control items [Seite 223]
4.3.5 - 9.5 Qualitative Analyses [Seite 227]
4.3.5.1 - 9.5.1 Verbs [Seite 227]
4.3.5.2 - 9.5.2 Satellites [Seite 240]
4.3.5.3 - 9.5.3 Periphery [Seite 245]
4.4 - 10 Results: Caused Motion [Seite 250]
4.4.1 - 10.1 Density [Seite 250]
4.4.1.1 - 10.1.1 Density as a function of language and age [Seite 253]
4.4.1.2 - 10.1.2 Density as a function of Manner of action [Seite 254]
4.4.1.3 - 10.1.3 Density as a function of Path [Seite 255]
4.4.2 - 10.2 Information Focus [Seite 258]
4.4.2.1 - 10.2.1 Information Focus as a function of language and age [Seite 260]
4.4.2.2 - 10.2.2 Information Focus as a function of Manner of action [Seite 268]
4.4.2.3 - 10.2.3 Information Focus as a function of Manner of the object's motion [Seite 270]
4.4.2.4 - 10.2.4 Information Focus as a function of Path [Seite 272]
4.5 - 10.3 Information Locus [Seite 279]
4.5.1 - 10.3.1 Information Locus as a function of language and age [Seite 284]
4.5.2 - 10.3.2 Information Locus as a function of Path [Seite 288]
4.6 - 10.4 Global Architecture [Seite 294]
4.6.1 - 10.4.1 Global Architecture as a function of language and age [Seite 296]
4.6.2 - 10.4.2 Global Architecture as a function of Path [Seite 299]
4.7 - 10.5 Qualitative Analyses [Seite 302]
4.7.1 - 10.5.1 Verbs [Seite 302]
4.7.2 - 10.5.2 Satellites [Seite 316]
4.7.3 - 10.5.3 Periphery [Seite 323]
5 - Part III: Discussion [Seite 329]
5.1 - 11 Discussion of the results and further research directions [Seite 331]
5.1.1 - 11.1 The expression of motion events in French and German [Seite 331]
5.1.2 - 11.2 General developmental versus language-specific determinants in children's verbalizations of motion events [Seite 335]
5.1.3 - 11.3 Limitations of the present study and future research directions [Seite 341]
6 - Appendix [Seite 347]
6.1 - A Methodology [Seite 349]
6.1.1 - A.1 Material [Seite 349]
6.1.1.1 - A.1.1 Items: Voluntary motion [Seite 349]
6.1.1.2 - A.1.2 Items: Caused motion [Seite 352]
6.1.2 - A.2 Instruction [Seite 356]
6.1.2.1 - A.2.1 German [Seite 356]
6.1.2.2 - A.2.2 French [Seite 356]
6.2 - B Results: Voluntary motion [Seite 358]
6.2.1 - B.1 Information Locus [Seite 358]
6.2.2 - B.2 Global Architecture [Seite 358]
6.2.3 - B.3 Verb forms in French [Seite 359]
6.2.4 - B.4 Verb forms in German [Seite 363]
6.2.5 - B.5 French constructions with faire + X [Seite 366]
6.3 - C Results: Caused motion [Seite 369]
6.3.1 - C.1 French verb types [Seite 369]
6.3.2 - C.2 German verb types [Seite 371]
7 - References [Seite 373]
8 - Subject index [Seite 397]
9 - Author index [Seite 399]