Introduction to psycholinguistics

THE CONTRIBUTION OF
PSYCOLINGUISTICS IN STUDYING
ENGLISH
Compiled BY

group 3: Pbi-5/semester viI

AKMAL NURDHIN SHOLIN
DHINI SYAPUTRI
ELVA SRIPURWANTI
HAFIZAH RAYANI BAHO
HIDAYAH HAHISNI SIREGAR
NUR HIJJAH ATIKA RITONGA
RASYID RIDHO
RIZKI RAMADHANI
RIZKI TIA MAUDINA
LECTURER
YANI LUBIS, S.Ag, M.Hum

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHERS TRAINING
THE STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY (UIN)
OF NORTH SUMATRA
MEDAN
2016

PREFACE
First of all, lets thanks to Allah SWT, who has given us
mercies and blessings, so, we can finish this task work which is
about The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English
it purposes to complate Psycholinguistics assignment that is
given by lecturer.
Shalawat and Salam always be given to our prophet
Muhammad SAW peace be upon him, his family, companions,
and his disciples in islam.
We also wishes to say gratitude to Yani Lubis, S.Ag, M.Hum
as the lecturer of Psycholinguistics who has guided, and given
me an opportunity to make and to complete this assignment.

Medan, 14 September
2016

Group 3

The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 1

CONTENTS
PREFACE ............................................................................

CONTENTS ..........................................................................
ii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ......................................

A. Background.............................................................
B. Problem Formulation ..............................................
C. Purpose....................................................................

1
1
1

CHAPTER II DISCUSSION ..........................................

A. Definition of Psycholinguistics ............................

B. Areas of Study of Psycholinguistics .....................
CHAPTER III CONCLUSSION .....................................

2
3
6

REFERENCES ......................................................................

The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 2

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
Language is very important in all aspects of life, especially us as human
beings . In daily life, humans would use language to express what is in their heart
or thoughts to others. In the presentation, humans through a few rounds of an idea
into a language that is disclosed. Included in the process is language acquisition,
language processing in the brain, the delivery of language, and so forth. If it
viewed from the aspect of psychology, language are related to a person's psyche.
It would be very different from the language used by people who are happy with
the people who are angry or sad, people who are sick with the healthy people,
people in a state of fatigue and people who are in a fit condition, all of which
would be very different.
From the relations with the language of one's psychological condition, it is
felt the need for special knowledge (psycholinguistics) who examined about it.
The writer intends to explain several things about psycholinguistics in this paper,
which is where the discussion is limited to the definition and the contribution of
psycholinguistics in studying English, in accordance with the given title. With the
hope to be useful to the reader and also the writer.
B. Problem Formulation
The problem formulation of this paper is:
1. What is the definition of psycholinguistics?
2. How is the contribution of psycholinguistics in studying English?
C. Purpose
The purpose of this paper is:
1. To know and understand about the definition of psycholinguistics.
2. To know and understand about the contribution of
psycholinguistics in studying English.

CHAPTER II
The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 1

DISCUSSION
THE CONTRIBUTION OF PSYCHOLINGUISTICS IN
STUDYING ENGLISH
A. Definition of Psycholinguistics
Language is everywhere in human society, across every culture. For most
people, it is an effortless ability that we acquire before we learn how to dress
ourselves. Some people feel that they even think using language, that an important
part of their thoughts involves a kind of internal monologue. Yet, language is not a
simple thingit is actually quite complex and we need to be able to use it quickly.
In fact, its timing is so crucial that even minor delays during the processing of
language are thought to have profound consequences. So, by understanding how
language works and how we are able to use it, we can understand a vital yet
complex part of our daily lives, offer ideas for how to help people with language
disorders, and perhaps even shed light on how we think.
Psycholinguistics is a discipline which draws on multiple sourches. It is
simultaneously psychology and linguistics.1 Psycholinguistics comes from two
parts, those are Psychology and Linguistics. So, firstwhat is linguistics? Its the
scientific study of language. Psychology? The scientific study of human behavior
and cognition (i.e., how we think).2 The union of these two fields is principally
concerned with the processing and knowledge representations that underlie the
ability to use language, and how they relate to other aspects of human cognition.
In short, psycholinguistics asks the question: How it is that people are able,
moment-by-moment, to produce and understand language?3
Psycholinguistics goes to the heart of what we do with language. It
provides insights into how we assemble our own speech and writing and how we
1 Anne Cutler. 2005. Twenty First Century Psycholinguistics. London: Lawrence
Erilbaum Associates Publishers. p.11
2Henk J. Verkuyl.2005Studies In Theoritical Psycholinguistic. University of Utrecht The
Netherlands.p.45

3 H. Wind Cowles. 2011. Psycholinguistics. New York: Springer Publishing Company. p.

9-10.

The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 2

understand that of others; into how we store and use vocabulary; into how we
manage to acquire a language in the first place; and into how language can fail us.
One must add that Psycholinguistics overlaps with many other domains: among
them, phonetics, discourse analysis, language pathology, neuroscience, computer
modelling and language teaching pedagogy. For those of us who know and love
the subject, this breadth of scope is what makes it so fascinating; but to an
intending student the eclecticism can be daunting, to say the least.4
Psycholinguistics is the use of language and speech as a window to the
nature and structure of the human mind. 5 Trask (997:179) said that
psycholinguistic is the discipline which studies the connections between language
and mind, particularly language processing the way in which ulterancess are
produced and comprehend. 6
The term Psycholinguistics as used to an area of overlap between
specialized fields of psycholinguistics (who study human behavior) and linguistics
(who study language) meet to explore the ways in which human language in its
various forms is actually learned and used. 7 Psycholinguistics the study of
language and mind : the mental structures processes which are involved in the
accussition and use of languange .8
B. Areas of Study of Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics is interdisciplinary and studied by experts in various
fields, such as psychology, cognitive science, and linguistics. Psycholinguistics is
the language behavior caused by their interaction with human thinking.
4 John Field. 2004. Psycholinguistics, The Key Concepts. London: Routledge Taylor &
Francis Group. p. 1
5 Thomas Scovel. 1998 Psycolinguistics. Oxford University Press. p.6
6 Tien Rafida.2007. Psikolinguistik. Bandung: Citapustaka Media. p.59
7 Frank Smith. Understanding Reading a Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning to
Read.p.233

8 H.G Widdowson.Linguistics. Oxford University Press.London 2005.p.27

The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 3

Psycholinguistics is researching on the acquisition, production and comprehension

of language. There are several subdivisions within psycholinguistics that are based
on the components that make up the language in humans.
1. Phonetics and phonology are concerned with the study of speech sounds.
Phonology is the linguistic domain representing knowledge about the
sound system of a language, dealing with language-distinctive sound units
(phonemes), unit combinations (e.g., syllables) and patterns of
combination which play a role in the lexicon and grammar of a language.9
Within psycholinguistics, research focuses on how the brain processes and
understands these sounds.
2. Morphology is the study of word structures, especially the relationships
between related words (such as dog and dogs) and the formation of words
based on rules (such as plural formation). The morphological component
of the grammar includes both inflectional and derivational morphemes that
create new words for a variety of syntactic and semantic functions. 10
Within psycholinguistics, it focuses on how we recognize morphologically
comple words and how we represent relations between related words.11
3. Syntax is the study of the patterns which dictate how words are combined
to form sentences. Syntax concerns the order in which classes of words,
such as nouns and verbs, may appear in a sentence such that they are
acceptable, well-formed sentences.12 Within psycholinguistics, it focuses
on how we understand sentences.
4. Semantics: in semantics, we study the meaning of words and sentences of
languages.13 Where syntax is concerned with the formal structure of
sentences, semantics deals with the actual meaning of sentences.
9 Dorid Diskin Ravid. 2012. Spelling Morphology The Psycholinguistics of Hebrew
Spelling. Springer New York.p.11
10 Eva M. Fernndez and Helen Smith Cairns. Fundamentals of Psycholinguistics. SPi Publisher
Services, Pondicherry, India.p.47

11 Mattew W. Crocker. 2000. Introduction to Psycholinguistics.Germany:Universitas

Saarlandes.p.22
12 Guy C. Van Orden. 2002. Nonlinear Dynamics and Psycholinguistics. London: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates,p.3

The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 4

5. Pragmatics is concerned with the role of context in the interpretation of

meaning.14 Pragmatics is concerned with the range of choice and
constraints available to users, and based on the context.

15

Psycholinguistics is a domain with fuzzy boundaries ; and there is some

disagreement among those who teach it as to how widely they shot set their sights.
A broad view of the discipline might embrace all of the following :
a. Language processing including the language skills of reading, writing,
speaking and listening and the part played by memory in language.
b. Lexical storage ad retrieval : how we store words in our mind and how
we find them when we need them.
c. Language acquisition : how an infant aqcuires its first language.
d. Special circumtances : the effects upon language of (e.g) deafness,
blindnesss or being a twin : conditions such as dyslexia or aphasia (the
loss of language after brain damage)
e. The brain and language : where language is located in the brain, how it
evolved and whether it is a faculty that is uniue to human beings. 16

13 Maslathif Dwi Purnomo, M.Hum. Semantics in Linguistics. p. 9

14 Sternberg, R.J. 2006. Cognitive Psychology. Belmont: CA Thomson Wadsorth. p. 22
15 Geoffrey N. Leech. Principles of Pragmatics. (Longman Linguistics Library). p. 102.
16 Op.Cit.,John Field.p. xi

The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 5

CHAPTER III
CONCLUSSION
Psycholinguistics comes from two parts, those are Psychology and
Linguistics. Psycholinguistics (who study human behavior) and linguistics (who
study language) meet to explore the ways in which human language in its various
forms is actually learned and used. So, Psycholinguistics is the study of language
and mind : the mental structures processes which are involved in the accussition
and use of languange.
There are several subdivisions within psycholinguistics that are based on
the components that make up the language in humans. Phonetic and Phonology,
Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics.
Phonetics and phonology are concerned with the study of speech sounds.
Morphology is the study of word structures. Syntax is the study of the patterns
which dictate how words are combined to form sentences. Semantics: in
semantics, we study the meaning of words and sentences of languages.
Pragmatics is concerned with the role of context in the interpretation of meaning.

The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 6

REFERENCES
Cowles, H. Wind. 2011. Psycholinguistics. New York: Springer Publishing
Company.
Crocker, Mattew W.. 2000. Introduction to Psycholinguistics.
Germany:Universitas Saarlandes.
Cutler, Anne. 2005. Twenty First Century Psycholinguistics. London: Lawrence
Erilbaum Associates Publishers.
Fernndez, Eva M. and Helen Smith Cairns. Fundamentals of Psycholinguistics.
SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India.
Field, John. 2004. Psycholinguistics, The Key Concepts. London: Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group.
Leech, Geoffrey N.. Principles of Pragmatics. (Longman Linguistics Library).
Orden, Guy C. Van. 2002. Nonlinear Dynamics and Psycholinguistics. London:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Purnomo, Maslathif Dwi. Semantics in Linguistics.
Rafida, Tien. 2007. Psikolinguistik. Bandung: Citapustaka Media.
Ravid, Dorid Diskin. 2012. Spelling Morphology The Psycholinguistics of
Hebrew Spelling. Springer New York.
Scovel, Thomas. 1998 Psycolinguistics. Oxford University Press.
Smith, Frank. Understanding Reading a Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and
Learning to Read.
Sternberg, R.J. 2006. Cognitive Psychology. Belmont: CA Thomson Wadsorth.
Verkuyl, Henk J..2005. Studies In Theoritical Psycholinguistic.University of
Utrecht The Netherlands.

The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 7

Widdowson, H.G. 2005.Linguistics. Oxford University Press.London.

The Contribution of Psycholinguistics in Studying English | 8