Thinking Linguistically

The authors skillfully engage readers in doing linguistics as a kind of scientific inquiry. An elegant demonstration of the steps in identifying patterns, formulating and testing hypotheses, and offering parsimonious descriptions and explanations. Walt Wolfram, North Carolina State UniversityHonda and ONeil have taught linguistics at the center and on the periphery, to grade schoolers, teachers, and graduate students: always theoretical, always understandable, always useful. These unique materials show that the study of English and of every other language can be a science accessible to all.Nigel Fabb, University of StrathclydeThinking Linguistically investigates knowledge of the structure of language and teaches students how to pursue serious, scientific inquiry by doing linguistics. Problem sets, primarily focused on NP pluralization and question formation across languages, are integrated into the text in order to guide students through the formulation and evaluation of hypotheses on the basis of linguistic data. Acquisition of the linguistic phenomena of the problem sets is also examined. Developed by two experienced teachers specifically for introductory courses on linguistics and language acquisition, this book enables students to reach conclusions about questions of linguistics while also understanding the reasoning and methodology behind them.Maya Honda is Associate Professor of Human Development at Wheelock College. Her work includes Understanding First and Second Language Acquisition (with Wayne ONeil, 2004) and papers in Noam Chomsky: Critical Assessments (1994) and The View from Building 20 (1993). Wayne ONeil is Professor of Linguistics at MIT. His publications include The Generative Study of Second Language Acquisition (edited with Suzanne Flynn and Gita Martohardjono, 1998) and Image, Language, Brain (edited with Alec Marantz and Yasushi Miyashita, 2000). Cover design byFor information, news, and content aboutBlackwell books and journals in linguistics please visitwww.blackwellpublishing.com/linguistics