Talking the Talk

by Trevor Harley

Language makes us human, but how do we use it and how do children learn it? Talking the Talk is an introduction to the psychology of language. Written for the reader with no background in the area or knowledge of psychology, it explains how we actually "do" how we speak, listen, and read. This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to psycholinguistics, the study of the psychological processes involved in language. It shows how it’s possible to study language experimentally, and how psychologists use these experiments to build models of language processing. The book focuses on controversy in modern psycholinguistics, and covers the all the main topics, including how children acquire language, how language is related to the brain, and what can go wrong – and what can be done when something does go wrong. Structured around questions that people often ask about language, the emphasis of Talking the Talk is how scientific knowledge can be applied to practical problems. It also stresses how language is related to other aspects of psychology, particularly in whether animals can learn language, and the relation between language and thought. Lively and amusing, the book will be essential reading for all undergraduate students and those new to the topic, as well as the interested lay reader.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Psychology, Language

352 pages, Paperback

First published December 21, 2009

Reviews

[Maan]

irritante gozer dit

[Natasha Basil]

A nice introduction, nothing complex. I suggest it if you are new to the subject of linguistics and psycholinguistics and want to get a general idea of the study. However, the author brings up a lot of topics, which are covered briefly. So, without any previous knowledge some things might not be clear.

[Claire Taylor]

Nice introduction to language. A textbook thats easy , enjoyable and witty to read. Author seems cool. Reads like a book at times.

[Leonie 🩵]

Very good and helpful if you want to learn about psycholinguistics that is

[Martin]

It took me almost two years to finish this book. By the time I did finish it, I had already forgotten what most of the book was all about. And before you ask: no, I'm not a lazy person who has a great difficulty in reading a short book from cover to cover.

"Talking the Talk: Language, Psychology and Science" is supposedly a scholarly book; however, the author has taken a great liberty in his style of writing. Most of the book is ripe with personal anecdotes, witty comments that often span a few sentences in parentheses, and illustrations that bear the strange resemblance of a remote associations task. While this makes the book more interesting, funny (?) and easy to read, it is also the reason why I almost gave up on it.

On the positive side, the book covers a lot of self-contained topics in psycholinguistics. You could probably use it for a introductory psycholinguistics class, provided you can finish the book by the end of the semester.

[Manon]

A nice book about language from the perspective of psychology and science. Focusses on such questions as; how does language work in the mind, how do children acquire language and can language influence our thoughts?
Perhaps not the best introduction to this subject, however, as it presupposes a little too much background knowledge of its readers. (I would recommend An introduction to language from Fromkin and others as a good introduction)

[Victoria]

I read this for a class. I really enjoyed it. The author is sometimes funny, and sometimes funny if your a British man.

[Lonneke]

De stof wordt goed gebracht, het leest lekker door en de schrijver is af en toe ontzettend grappig.

[Laura McFarland]

Had to read a chapter of this each week for a module for uni. It's a well written book and fairly easy to follow but I really hate psycholinguistics so this wasn't the best read...