Language Acquisition and the Theory of Parameters

Hyams, Nina

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-4638-5

Cited by 712 publications

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“…This type of gradual learning curve poses a problem for parameter-setting models of language acquisition (e.g. Hyams, 1986), where the acquisition of a grammatical construction is presumed to be categorical once the appropriate 'triggering ' data have been observed. Other theories of syntactic acquisition have no explanation for the gradual learning process that is typically noted.…”

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The prosodic (re)organization of children's early English articles

Demuth

McCullough

2008

J. Child Lang.

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A B S T R A C TResearchers have long been puzzled by children's variable omission of grammatical morphemes, often attributing this to a lack of semantic or syntactic competence. Recent studies suggest that some of this variability may be due to phonological constraints. This paper explored this issue further by conducting a longitudinal study of five Englishspeaking one-to two-year-olds' acquisition of articles. It found that most children were more likely to produce articles when these could be produced as part of a disyllabic foot. However, acoustic analysis revealed that one child initially produced all articles as independent prosodic words. These findings confirm that some of the variable production of articles is conditioned by constraints on children's early phonologies, providing further support for the Prosodic Licensing Hypothesis. They also hold important implications for our understanding of the emergence of syntactic knowledge. I N T R O D U C T I O NIt has long been observed that the acquisition of grammatical function morphemes proceeds gradually over time, taking several years to reach adult-like performance (e.g. Brown, 1973). Rather than appearing all at once, morphemes such as the articles a and the and verbal inflections such as third person singular -s and past tense -ed initially appear in only a few

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The prosodic (re)organization of children's early English articles

Demuth

McCullough

2008

J. Child Lang.

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“…As I pointed out, the size principle has sound justifications in the case of language acquisition (e.g., Hyams, 1986;Manzini & Wexler, 1987), but its use by FT is particularly implausible. Specifically, in FT's model, infants might encounter a total of three syllables.…”

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How are Bayesian models really used? Reply to Frank (2013)

Endress

2014

Cognition

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This is the unspecified version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. In response to the proposal that cognitive phenomena might be best understood in terms of cognitive theories (Endress, 2013), Frank (2013) outlined an important research program, suggesting that Bayesian models should be used as rigorous, mathematically attractive implementations of psychological theories. This research program is important and promising. However, I show that it is not followed in practice. I then turn to Frank's defense of the assumption that learners prefer more specific rules (the "size principle"), and show that the results allegedly supporting this assumption do not provide any support for it. Further, I demonstrate that, in contrast to Frank's criticisms, there is no circularity in an account of rule-learning based on "common-sense psychology", and that Frank's other criticisms of this account are unsupported. I conclude that the research program outlined by Frank is important and promising, but needs to be followed in practice. Be that as it might, the rule-learning experiments discussed by Frank are still better explained by simple psychological mechanisms. Permanent repository link:

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“…Segundo Hyams (1986) Wexler (1998), por exemplo, os parâ-metros básicos relacionados ao uso dos verbos de uma língua são marcados muito cedo no processo de desenvolvimento da linguagem. Em particular, Wexler (1998) argumenta que as flexões mais funcionalmente centrais e básicas (as do tempo presente, por exemplo) são aprendidas muito rapidamente pelas crianças.…”

Section: A Linguagem Inicial Da Criança: a Visão Gerativistaunclassified

A aquisição da morfologia de verbos regulares no português brasileiro: uma abordagem da lingüística cognitiva

Souza

Cardoso-Martins

2010

Psicol. Reflex. Crit.

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ResumoA pesquisa em Lingüística Cognitiva no Brasil tem crescido de maneira considerável nos últimos anos. No entanto, ainda são poucos os estudos sobre a aquisição da linguagem que adotam o aporte teórico da Lingüística Cognitiva. Com o objetivo de preencher essa lacuna, o presente estudo investigou a produtividade de uma criança pequena no que tange o uso das diferentes flexões dos verbos regulares em português, em duas ocasiões diferentes: quando a criança tinha 1 ano e 10 meses de idade e quando ela tinha 2 anos e 2 meses de idade. Os dados foram retirados do banco de dados do projeto CHILDES. Apesar de ter havido um desenvolvimento significativo entre as duas ocasiões no uso das flexões verbais, os resultados sugerem que, em consonância com o paradigma da Lingüística Cognitiva, o conhecimento da morfossintaxe de verbos se desenvolve de forma gradual e é inicialmente pouco abstrato. As implicações desses resultados para uma teoria sobre a aquisição da linguagem são discutidas. Palavras-chave: Lingüística cognitiva; Morfologia de verbos; Aquisição da linguagem. AbstractIn recent years, there has been an increasing body of research on Cognitive Linguistics in Brazil. However, few studies have investigated first language acquisition from a Cognitive Linguistics viewpoint. The present study is an attempt to fill in this gap. The productivity of a young Brazilian Portuguesespeaking boy with regard to the use of regular verbs was investigated at two different times: when he was 1 year and 10 months old, and when he was 2 years and 2 months old. The data were taken from the CHILDES database. Although there was a significant progress between Times 1 and 2, results suggest that the knowledge of the morphosyntax of verbs develops gradually, being initially non-schematic, which is consistent with the Cognitive Linguistics framework. The implications of these results for a theory of language acquisition are discussed. A investigação acerca da aquisição da morfologia verbal tem despertado o interesse de diversos pesquisadores e, por conseqüência, tem assumido um papel de destaque em disciplinas como a Psicologia Cognitiva, a Lingüística e a Psicolingüística. Uma questão recorrente diz respeito à natureza do conhecimento lingüístico subjacente ao uso produtivo das diferentes flexões verbais no início da aquisição da linguagem (Aguado-Orea, 2004;Rubino & Pine, 1998;Wittek & Tomasello, 2002. Em particular, vários pesquisadores têm procurado avaliar até que ponto o conhecimento inicial da criança em relação às marcações morfossintáticas de tempo e aspecto é baseado em regras morfossintáticas abstratas ou em itens lingüísticos específicos (Akthar & Tomasello, 1997;Olguin & Tomasello, 1993). Poucos estudos, no entanto, investigaram essa questão em línguas que apresentam um sistema morfossintático verbal complexo e denso, como é o caso da maioria das línguas românicas. O presente estudo propõe uma análise da fala espontânea de uma criança brasileira no que diz respeito à sua produção de verbos regulares, com vistas a fornecer e...

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Language Acquisition and the Theory of Parameters

Cited by 712 publications

References 0 publications

The prosodic (re)organization of children's early English articles

The prosodic (re)organization of children's early English articles

How are Bayesian models really used? Reply to Frank (2013)

A aquisição da morfologia de verbos regulares no português brasileiro: uma abordagem da lingüística cognitiva

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