Psycholinguistics (Oxford Introductions to Language Study) [Paperback]

Thomas Scovel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0194372138 | ISBN-13: 978-0194372138 | Publication Date: April 2, 1998

Psycholinguists have shown that the production and comprehension of even the simplest language is a highly complex process. This brief introduction shows how psycholinguistic research can act as a window to the workings of the human mind and the study of consciousness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The book successfully accomplishes its goal of easing people into an understanding of complex ideas.' - The Clarion, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1999

About the Author

Thomas Scovel was born in China and currently teaches courses in ESL, psycholinguistics, pedagogical grammar, second language acquisition, and TESOL methodology at San Francisco State University. He has spent many years teaching and living in various Asian countries. He has been an active member of TESOL, AAAL, and the International Neuropsychological Society.

Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0194372138
• ISBN-13: 978-0194372138
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #790,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nearly philosophical, October 15, 2000

By 

Jerzy A Brzozowski (Poland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psycholinguistics (Oxford Introductions to Language Study) (Paperback)

The Oxford Introductions to Language Study are known to be very dense, giving birth to many ideas on each turn of a page. "Psycholinguistics" is not an exception to this rule.

The book's structure is very well organized, allowing the reader to focus on his own interests. There are four sections as usual (Survey, Readings, References and Glossary). The Survey is the core of the text. In the Readings section, the reader is asked some interesting questions that may be the subject of hours of discussion -- this is one of the book's qualities. The References, however are usually to quite expensive technical books (with a few exceptions), so that the reader is disencouraged to go further on his studies. The Glossary is quite clear, but you keep going back and forward through it as the entries interlink.

This is a book for you to think about language. I do highly reccommend it if you are into linguistics and you want to experience a flavor of psychology and even philosophy.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Be careful and note for whom this book is intended, June 3, 2009

By 

Charles Jannuzi - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Psycholinguistics (Oxford Introductions to Language Study) (Paperback)

Be careful and note for whom this book is intended.

It is supposed to be a concise introduction to psycho-linguistics for people training to be ESL and EFL teachers.

I found it way too concise--that is, lacking too much.

It is also out of date on some key issues, such as categorical perception and the existence (or non-existence) of the phoneme.

This book could have been developed in two different directions, either of which might have benefited the intended readership. (1) It could have included about 50 more pages of the history of related fields and their development and then explained psycho-linguistics in terms of the issues that concern ELT/TESL/TEFL/TESOL the most: second language acquisition, listening perception, articulation, and reading processes, etc. Or, (2) it could have given a somewhat more complete and technical explanation of psycho-linguistics.

Overall, it was a disappointing book to read. There are far better introductions to psycho-linguistics (such as Garman, CUP). Meanwhile, academics in ELT ought to stop playing around with superficial approaches to 'cross-disciplinary studies'. Instead, they ought to face up to the bleak reality: theirs is a field run by a big business mentality. Intellectually speaking, ELT has never really got past a superficial understanding of structuralism and behaviourism, which might explain the amateurish efforts at producing 'research' that now pollute most journals that language teachers are supposed to take an interest in.

Finally, the lack of an index is inexcusable.

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As expected, July 19, 2007

By 

O. V. DUARTE "Maco" (Colombia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Psycholinguistics (Oxford Introductions to Language Study) (Paperback)

Since it is not available in my country, in termz of price, quality, and delivery it is just excellent