Full Description
This volume showcases the contributions that formal experimental methods can make to syntactic research in the 21st century. Syntactic theory is both a domain of study in its own right, and one component of an integrated theory of the cognitive neuroscience of language. It provides a theory of the mediation between sound and meaning, a theory of the representations constructed during sentence processing, and a theory of the end-state for language acquisition. Given the highly interactive nature of the theory of syntax, this volume defines "experimental syntax" in the broadest possible terms, exploring both formal experimental methods that have been part of the domain of syntax since its inception (i.e., acceptability judgment methods) and formal experimental methods that have arisen through the interaction of syntactic theory with the domains of acquisition, psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics. The Oxford Handbook of Experimental Syntax brings these methods together into a single experimental syntax volume for the first time, providing high-level reviews of major experimental work, offering guidance for researchers looking to incorporate these diverse methods into their own work, and inspiring new research that will push the boundaries of the theory of syntax. It will appeal to students and scholars from the advanced undergraduate level upwards in a range of fields including syntax, acquisition, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and computational linguistics.
Contents
Part I. Judgment methods in syntactic theory
1: Jon Sprouse: Acceptability judgments
2: Elsi Kaiser and Jeffrey Runner: Acceptability judgments of binding and coreference: Methodological considerations
3: Kriszta Eszter Szendrxoi: (Quantifier) scope judgments
4: Maria Polinsky: Experimental syntax and linguistic fieldwork
Annotated bibliography for Part I
Part II. Acquisition methods in syntactic theory
5: Laurel Perkins and Jeffrey Lidz: Behavioral acquisition methods with infants
6: Kristen Syrett: Behavioral acquisition methods with preschool-age children
7: Lisa S. Pearl: Modeling syntactic acquisition
8: Jennifer Culbertson: Artificial language learning
Annotated bibliography for Part II
Part III. Psycholinguistic methods in syntactic theory
9: Masaya Yoshida: Self-paced reading
10: Dave Kush and Brian Dillon: Eye-tracking and experimental syntax
11: Stephani Foraker, Ian Cunnings, and Andrea E. Martin: Speed-accuracy tradeoff modeling and its interface with experimental syntax
12: Tim Hunter: Formal methods in experimental syntax
13: Mara Breen and Katy Carlson: Investigating syntactic structure and processing in the auditory modality
14: Matthew Wagers and Sandra Chung: Language processing experiments in the field
Annotated bibliography for Part III
Part IV. Neurolinguistic methods in syntactic theory
15: Jon Sprouse and Diogo Almeida: Electrophysiological methods
16: Jonathan R. Brennan: Hemodynamic methods
17: William Matchin and Corianne Rogalsky: Aphasia and syntax
Annotated bibliography for Part IV
18: The contributors: The future of experimental syntax
