Introducing the fundamental issues in psycholinguistics this book explores the amazing story of the unconscious processes that take place when humans use language. It is an ideal text for undergraduates taking a first course in the study of language. Topics covered include the biological foundations of language; acquisition of first and second languages in children and adults; the mental lexicon; and speech production perception and processing Structured as an engaging narrative that takes the reader from an idea in the mind of a speaker to its comprehension in the mind of the hearer Reflects the latest empirical developments in psycholinguistics and is illustrated throughout with examples from bilingual as well as monolingual language processing second language acquisition and sign languages Student-friendly features include chapter-by-chapter study questions and discussion summaries; the appendix offers an excellent overview of experimental designs in psycholinguistics and prepares students for their own research Written by an internationally-regarded author team drawing on forty years of experience in teaching psycholinguistics