The Acquisition and Use of Yes-no Questions in English

This monograph offers a comprehensive account of the L1-acquisition and use of yes-no questions in English from a usage-based, construction grammar perspective. On the basis of the BNC and a high-density, longitudinal CHILDES corpus, the book explores two issues which have largely been neglected in previous research: 1. the prevalence of non-canonical questions (such as elliptical and declarative questions) in adult-to-adult as well as child(-directed) speech and the L1-acquisition of these structures. 2. The discourse-functional properties of both canonical and non-canonical yes-no questions, especially with regard to their influence on the acquisition process.

Dr. Ursula Kania ist Lecturer in English Language an der University of Liverpool.

List of tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements 1 Introduction and Outline 2 Theories of Language Acquisition 3 The Acquisition and Use of Yes-No questions 4 Yes-No Questions in Adult-to-Adult Speech 5 Yes-No Questions in Child(-Directed) Speech 6 The Acquisition and Use of Weak Assertives 7 The Acquisition and Use of Strong Assertives 8 The Role of Functional Factors in the Acquisition of Canonical Yes-No Questions 1 9 Summary and General Discussion 10 References