Spatial Language Learning

Abstract

Spatial language constitutes part of the basic fabric of language. Although languages may have the same number of terms to cover a set of spatial relations, they do not always do so in the same way. Spatial languages differ across languages quite radically, thus providing a real semantic challenge for second language learners. The essay first examines the variables that underpin the comprehension and production of spatial prepositions in English. Then the essay reviews the functional geometric framework for spatial language and a computational model of the framework that grounds spatial language directly in visual routines. Finally, the essay considers the implications of the model for both first and second language acquisition.

Keywords: spatial language, second language acquisition, functional, geometric