This article considers effects of construction frequency, form, function, and prototypicality on second language acquisition (SLA). It investigates these relationships by focusing on naturalistic SLA in the European Science Foundation corpus (Perdue, 1993) of the English verb-argument constructions (VACs): verb locative (VL), verb object locative (VOL), and ditransitive (VOO). Goldberg (2006) argued that Zipfian type/token frequency distributions (Zipf, 1935) in natural language constructions might optimize learning by providing one very high-frequency exemplar that is also prototypical in meaning. This article tests and confirms this proposal for naturalistic English as a second language. We show that VAC type/token distribution in the input is Zipfian and that learners first use the most frequent, prototypical, and generic exemplar (e.g., put in the VOL VAC, give in the VOO ditransitive, etc.). Learning is driven by the frequency and frequency distribution of exemplars within constructions and by the match of their meaning to the construction prototype.HERE WE EXPLORE SECOND LANGUAGE (L2) acquisition of verb-argument constructions (VACs) from a cognitive linguistic, constructionist perspective. We investigate the degree to which three linguistic constructions-verb locative (VL), verb object locative (VOL), and ditransitive (VOO)-are acquired following general cognitive principles of category learning, with abstract schematic constructions being induced from concrete exemplars.

This paper presents a psycholinguistic analysis of constructions and their acquisition. It investigates effects upon naturalistic second language acquisition of type/token distributions in the islands comprising the linguistic form of English verb-argument constructions (VACs: VL verb locative, VOL verb object locative, VOO ditransitive) in the ESF corpus (Perdue, 1993).
 Goldberg (2006) argued that Zipfian type/token frequency distribution of verbs in natural language might optimize construction learning by providing one very high frequency exemplar that is also prototypical in meaning. Ellis & Ferreira-Junior (2009) confirmed that in the naturalistic L2A of English, VAC verb type/token distribution in the input is Zipfian and learners first acquire the most frequent, prototypical and generic exemplar (e.g. put in VOL, give in VOO, etc.). This paper further illustrates how acquisition is affected by the frequency and frequency distribution of exemplars within each island of the construction (e.g. [Subj V Obj Oblpath/loc]), by their prototypicality, and, using a variety of psychological and corpus linguistic association metrics, by their contingency of form-function mapping.

A aprendizagem de uma língua é regida por processos gerais de diferenciação e generalização, cujos mecanismos cognitivos também ope-ram em outros tipos de aprendizagem. Tal processo envolve a percepção detokens altamente frequentes no insumo; dentre estes um se tornará mais prototípico, facilitando assim o desenvolvimento de uma dada categoriabalizado pela frequência de types em espaços representacionais específicos.O presente artigo busca fornecer evidências adicionais de aprendizagemde L2 baseada no uso à luz de dados empíricos recentes. Com este intuito éfeita, inicialmente, uma síntese da teorização acima delineada; seguem-seuma re-análise e discussão, na forma de redes de colocações de palavras,de dados longitudinais de aprendizes de L2 publicados recentemente (FER-REIRA-JUNIOR, 2008; ELLIS; FERREIRA-JUNIOR, 2009a, 2009b). Asconclusões evidenciam que o desenvolvimento linguístico dos aprendizes écaracterizado por uma construção contínua de ‘rotas linguísticas’ alternati-vas ao longo do processo de constante mapeamento entre função e forma.

RESUMO:Neste artigo é feita uma reflexão sobre o fenômeno dos erros lingüísticos, sua possível natureza e sua importância para os processos de aprendizagem de línguas (ASL). Após discutir o conceito de 'interlíngua' (Selinker 1972; aponto semelhanças e diferenças conceituais entre a idéia de uma interlíngua e a filosofia conexionista para a aquisição e processamento da linguagem, buscando compatibilizar o construto 'interlíngua' com redes conexionistas. Concluo especulando que o processamento da linguagem parece ser basicamente regido por um sistema probabilístico. Palavras-chave: conexionismo; aquisição de segunda língua; processos cognitivos. ABSTRACT:In this paper a reflection is made about the pervasive phenomenon of linguistic errors, their possible nature and the role they seem to play in the processes of second language acquisition (SLA) in particular. An analogy is drawn between the concept of an 'interlanguage', as originally proposed by Selinker (1972;, and connectionist models of language acquisition and processing. Language processing, it is suggested here, seems to be governed mainly by a probabilistic system.