Progression and Regression in Language Sociocultural, Neuropsychological and Linguistic Perspectives

This crosslinguistic collection looks at changes and developments in language involving gain or loss in structural complexity or utility. The dynamics of these processes of progression and regression are examined at the societal and individual level, and the two are compared.

First published in 1994, this crosslinguistic collection looks at changes and developments in language involving gain or loss in structural complexity or utility. The dynamics of these processes of progression and regression are examined at the societal and the individual level, and the two are compared. In the former, the focus is on the social and cultural forces that influence groups of speakers to create new languages or abandon old ones. In the latter, the acquisition and attrition of both first and second languages are considered. Questions raised include: Can parallel structural patterning be observed in whole languages and in the individual's version of a language? Is there parallelism between progression and regression? Can changes occurring in progression and regression be interpreted in a typological framework? These are addressed from sociological, neuropsychological, and linguistic perspectives.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Linguistic progression and regression: an introduction Kenneth Hyltenstam and Åke Viberg; Part II. The Sociological Setting: 2. The role of pidgin and creole languages in languages progression and regression Peter Mühlhaüsler; 3. Structure and practice in language shift Jane Hill; 4. Growing up monolingual in a multilingual community: how language socialisation patterns are leading to language shift in Gapun (Papua New Guinea) Don Kulick; 5. Language change in a creole continuum: decreolisation? Charlene Sato; Part III. Psycho- and Neurolinguistic Aspects: 6. Neurolinguistic aspects of first language acquisition and loss Jean Berko Gleason; 7. Neurolinguistic aspects of second language development and attrition Loraine K. Obler; 8. Second language acquisition as a function of age: research findings and methodological issues; 9. Second language regression Alzheimer's dementia Kenneth Hyltenstam and Christopher Stroud; Part IV. The Linguistic Perspective: 10. Crosslinguistic perspectives on native language acquisition Ruth Berman; 11. Syntactic development in Danish L2 Anne Holmen; 12. The weaker language in bilingual Swedish–French children Suzzane Schlyter; 13. Four operating principles and input distribution as explanations for underdeveloped and mature morphological systems Roger Andersen; 14. Crosslinguistic perspectives on lexical organisation and lexical progression Åke Viberg; 15. Attrition or expansion? changes in the lexicon of Finnish and American adult bilinguals in Sweden Sally Boyd; Part V. The Linguistic Perspective 2: Phonology: 16. The development of phonological abilities Henning Wode; 17. The course of development in second language phonology acquisition: a natural path or strategic choice? Bjorn Hammarberg; 18. Sociolinguistic factors in loss and acquisition of phonology Roy C. Major; Index.

A crosslinguistic collection of studies of language progression and regression at the societal and individual level, first published in 1994. The processes are assessed from sociocultural, neuropsychological and lingusitic perspectives.