What is to be learned
-
William Labov
Abstract
This paper is an effort to define the target of the language learner: asking, what are the data that the child pays attention to in the process of becoming a native speaker? In so doing, we will necessarily be engaged in the more general effort to define language itself. The general argument to be advanced here is that the human language learning capacity is outward bound, that is, aimed at the acquisition of the general pattern used in the speech community. The end result is a high degree of uniformity in both the categorical and variable aspects of language production, where individual variation is reduced below the level of linguistic significance.
Abstract
This paper is an effort to define the target of the language learner: asking, what are the data that the child pays attention to in the process of becoming a native speaker? In so doing, we will necessarily be engaged in the more general effort to define language itself. The general argument to be advanced here is that the human language learning capacity is outward bound, that is, aimed at the acquisition of the general pattern used in the speech community. The end result is a high degree of uniformity in both the categorical and variable aspects of language production, where individual variation is reduced below the level of linguistic significance.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- The emergence of Cognitive Sociolinguistics 1
-
Articles
- What is to be learned 23
- Variation, structure and norms 53
- Flexibility and change in distributed cognitive systems 75
- Pragmatic variation and cultural models 107
- Cognitive Sociolinguistics in L2-variety dictionaries of English 133
- Spread of on-going changes in an immigrant language 161
- Defining the cognitive mechanisms underlying reactions to foreign accented speech 187
- Index 213
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- The emergence of Cognitive Sociolinguistics 1
-
Articles
- What is to be learned 23
- Variation, structure and norms 53
- Flexibility and change in distributed cognitive systems 75
- Pragmatic variation and cultural models 107
- Cognitive Sociolinguistics in L2-variety dictionaries of English 133
- Spread of on-going changes in an immigrant language 161
- Defining the cognitive mechanisms underlying reactions to foreign accented speech 187
- Index 213
