Contents: 1.What is psycholinguistics? -- 2.How does language differ from communication in other species? -- 3.How is speech perceived? -- 4.How is speech planned and produced? -- 5.How are written words recognized? -- 6.How are sentences comprehended? -- 7.How do we comprehend discourses? -- 8.How does language develop? -- 9.Social aspects of language use -- 10.How are two or more languages processed? -- 11.How do we become skilled readers adn writers? -- 12.What is the brain's role in language? -- 13.What are sign languages and how are they used? -- 14.How can language become disordered?

This accessibly written and pedagogically rich text delivers the most comprehensive examination of its subject, carefully drawing on the most up-to-date research and covering a breadth of the central topics including communication, language acquisition, language processing, language disorders, speech, writing, and development. This book also examines an array of other progressive areas in the field neglected in similar works such as bilingualism, sign language as well as comparative communication.

Based on her globally-orientated research and academic expertise, author Shelia Kennison innovatively applies psycholinguistics to real-world examples through analysing the hetergenous traits of a wide variety of languages. With its engaging easy-to-understand prose, this text guides students gently and sequentially through an introduction to the subject. The book is designed for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in psycholinguistics.