37.2471, Books: Early Incidental Second Language Acquisition through Cartoons: Di Nisio (2026)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2471. Thu Jul 23 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2471, Books: Early Incidental Second Language Acquisition through Cartoons: Di Nisio (2026)

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Date: 23-Jul-2026
From: Lucy Trotter [lucy.trotter at bloomsbury.com]
Subject: Early Incidental Second Language Acquisition through Cartoons: Di Nisio (2026)


Title: Early Incidental Second Language Acquisition through Cartoons
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
           http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/
Book URL:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/early-incidental-second-language-acquisition-through-cartoons-9781350513792/

Author(s): Rosalia Di Nisio

Hardback, 9781350513792, £90.00

Abstract:

This fascinating open access study explains and describes the process
by which young children can acquire a second language incidentally,
via joyful and regular exposure to animated cartoons. This multi-year
activity can replicate some aspects of the mother-tongue acquisition
process, especially when supported by a co-viewing caregiver.
Rosalia Di Nisio emphasises two important elements in the acquisition
process: the mediation of co-viewing adults as a motivating factor,
and the multimodal nature of cartoons as a facilitator of extensive
comprehension through sounds and images. She gives evidence to this
multimodality by first focusing on the 'dual coding' interaction
between cartoons' verbal and non-verbal dimensions, then broadening
her analysis to a more complex meaning-making discourse. Combining
cognitive, relational and language perspectives, Di Nisio also
demonstrates the near-native language acquisition phases: singing and
acting out, which mark the baby's involvement accompanied by a
caregiver; the silent, but fertile phase, during which listening
skills reach surprising levels; speech development, which is prompted
by opportunities to interact with a native speaker.
Underpinned by foundational theory from cognitive psychology,
multimodality and applied linguistics, this is an essential study of a
fertile but overlooked mode of language acquisition.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC
BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     General Linguistics
                     Pragmatics
                     Semantics




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