In recent years, linguists have increasingly turned to the cognitive sciences to broaden their investigation into the roots and development of language. With the advent of cognitive-linguistic, usage-based and complex-adaptive models of language, linguists today are utilizing approaches and insights from cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, social psychology and other related fields.

A key result of this interdisciplinary approach is the concept of entrenchment the ongoing reorganization and adaptation of communicative knowledge. Entrenchment posits that our linguistic...

In recent decades, a growing number of children have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a condition characterized by, among other features, social interaction deficits and language impairment. Yet the precise nature of the disorder's impact on language development is not well understood, in part because of the language variability among children across the autism spectrum. The contributors to this volume -- experts in fields ranging from communication disorders to developmental and clinical psychology to linguistics -- use innovative techniques to address two broad...

Language acquisition research is challenging--the intricate behavioral and cognitive foundations of speech are difficult to measure objectively. The audible components of speech, however, are quantifiable and thus provide crucial data. This practical guide synthesizes the authors' decades of experience into a comprehensive set of tools that will allow students and early career researchers in the field to design and conduct rigorous studies that produce reliable and valid speech data and interpretations.

The authors thoroughly review specific techniques for obtaining qualitative and...