Introduction to Experimental Linguistics

Preface

This book aims to present the theoretical and methodological principles of experimental linguistics in an accessible manner. It intends to offer an overall vision of the field, so as to help the non-initiated audience to become familiar with the necessary concepts for carrying out linguistic experiments. The elements discussed in this book can particularly serve as a basis for a critical understanding of the results published in the scientific literature and as a starting point for carrying out experiments.

Since the field of experimental linguistics is rich and varied, both in terms of the phenomena studied and of the methods employed, it is impossible to offer an exhaustive presentation. The choice of aspects introduced in this book aims to provide an overview of the different possibilities available to those wishing to carry out an experimental study about language. For every aspect developed in the chapters of the book, there exist specific works which, due to their complexity and the prerequisites they demand, are often reserved for an expert audience. This is why we have deliberately chosen to select the information we deem essential for building a knowledge base that will later enable readers to explore the scientific literature and other works on this topic. Therefore, the emphasis will be placed on understanding the scientific approach and the methodological principles underlying the construction of experiments, and on analyzing the data which results from ...