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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.
Overall, the studies presented in this book show how non-canonical constructions and the discourse-functional properties of linguistic structures may be integrated into a usage-based, constructivist account of Language acquisition and use in order to arrive at a better understanding of the observed patterns.

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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

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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.

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

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